Amazing Timelapse Shows a Salamander Growing From a Single Cell Into a Complete, Complex Living Organism Over Three Weeks

Van IJken utilized microscopes to capture a time-lapse footage of the alpine newt’s metamorphosis from a solitary zygote to a hatched larvae. The six-minute film showcases every phase of embryogenesis, as confirmed by IJken.

The initial stage involves the zygote undergoing multiple rounds of cleavage, whereby a single cell divides into smaller cells, without a surge in mass.

After this stage, the embryo has produced so many cells that multiplies its cells that result in the formation of a blastula, a spherical cluster of cells.