Re: Metamorphosis - plausible evolutionary scenario?

pineapple.link@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Now, let's take a prehistoric caterpillar
which currently does not undergo this sort of metamorphosis at all,
but through some mutation just acquires the very first step in the
chain - the ability to transform its body into a gelatinous mass and
die (it "dies" because it has not yet evolved the ability to further
transform itself into a butterfly - that's further down the
evolutionary chain). What is the evolutionary benefit that is being
realized at this point in time from turning into goo and dying (there
needs to be a benefit for natural selection to "select for" this
ability)?

There isn't one. The "transform its body into a gelatinous
mass" step was not a first step, but an end-product.

No doubt the ancestors of butterflies did not undergo such a
radical transformation - and could not fly. They probably
just grew legs and genitals: fairly orthodox developmental
steps that do not involve self-liquefaction.

Elaborating on an *existing* successful transformation is
something selection /can/ manage.
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