Metamorphosis is a developmental transformation between substantially different life stages, such as a tadpole becoming a frog or a caterpillar becoming an adult butterfly. It can reorganize feeding structures, movement, habitat use and internal tissues, rather than merely increasing size. Regulated cell differentiation, tissue remodelling and cell death contribute to the transition.
An early experiment showed that feeding tadpoles thyroid tissue accelerated differentiation relative to comparison diets. [ref]
Feeding experiments on tadpoles: the influence of specific organs given as food on growth and differentiation by J. F. Gudernatsch. 1912, feeding comparisons and accelerated metamorphic changes after thyroid diet
The intervention connected a secretory organ to the timing of a whole-body transformation. It did not isolate a pure hormone or establish that growth and differentiation are the same process. Modern thyroid hormone biology explains this amphibian example; insect metamorphosis uses a different hormonal system. Articles by others on the same topic
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