Metamorphosis in invertebrates and vertebrates is an ideal model for studying mechanisms of postembryonic development regulated by external signals. Amphibian metamorphosis shares many similarities with mammalian development in the perinatal period. The precocious induction in vivo and in culture of amphibian metamorphosis by exogenous thyroid hormones and its retardation or inhibition by prolactin, have allowed the analysis of such characteristic features of postembryonic development as morphogenesis, tissue remodelling, gene reprogramming and programmed cell death. Recent studies on metamorphosis have revealed the important role played by such processes as auto- and cross-regulation of hormone receptor genes and by cell death or apoptosis, as in the maturation of the central nervous system, tissue restructuring and organolysis.
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Jamshed R. Tata (1996) studied this question.