Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is the transformation an amphibian goes through from an aquatic, gilled larva into its adult form — for example a tadpole becoming a froglet, or a larval salamander losing its gills and moving onto land.
Most amphibians metamorphose: frogs and toads go from tadpole to froglet, and many salamanders and newts hatch as gilled aquatic larvae before absorbing their gills and becoming terrestrial or semi-aquatic adults.
Neotenic species like the axolotl are the exception — they skip metamorphosis and stay aquatic for life.
