Cyclomorphosis (also known as seasonal
polyphenism) is the name given to the occurrence of cyclic or seasonal changes in the
phenotype of an organism through successive generations.
It occurs in small aquatic invertebrates that reproduce by
parthenogenesis and give rise to several generations annually. It occurs especially in marine
planktonic animals, and is thought to be caused by the
epigenetic
In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable phenotypic changes (known as ''marks'') that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix '' epi-'' ( "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "o ...
effect of environmental cues on the organism, thereby altering the course of their development.
References
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Biological processes
Animal physiology