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An animal with an indirect development undergoes a metamorphosis in which larvae do not resemble the adult.

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User Tracer
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Final answer:

Animals with indirect development undergo metamorphosis, which is a transformation process where larval forms do not resemble adults. Complete metamorphosis involves drastic changes from larva to adult, seen in butterflies and frogs, while insects like grasshoppers show incomplete metamorphosis with gradual changes.

Step-by-step explanation:

Indirect development in animals involves a process known as metamorphosis, where the larval forms are remarkably different from the adult forms. Complete metamorphosis is seen in many insects and amphibians, where the organism goes through a larval stage with distinct morphology and diet, which minimizes food competition with adults. For instance, a butterfly starts as a caterpillar, which is the larval stage, and then transforms into a pupa before becoming a winged adult. Incomplete metamorphosis, observed in insects like grasshoppers, involves less drastic changes, with young resembling wingless adults and undergoing successive molts to develop into the final adult form.

Amphibians, like frogs, start off as tadpoles in their larval stage, which resemble fish and later develop limbs and lose their tails during metamorphosis. In arthropods, the larval stage can be within a cocoon, eventually emerging as an adult. The mosquito's life cycle, consisting of larval and pupa stages before becoming an adult, is a common example of how metamorphosis divides functions and adaptations between life stages.

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User Dattatray
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