Yes, at least in tadpoles. Researchers at the University of Michigan (USA) recently demonstrated that, in addition to preparing the body to defend itself or to escape quickly from danger, stress hormones are responsible for alterations in the shape of the body of some developing animals , of such that they are better "equipped" to survive.
Thus, in the case of tadpoles, the scientists found that prolonged exposure to a certain stress hormone allowed them to increase the size of their tails to escape predators . The finding, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , became the first clear demonstration that a stress hormone produced by the animal can cause changes in the shape of the body that improve survival. It is a phenomenon of “phenotypic plasticity ”, A term used to describe modifications of animals and plants in response to a change in the environment.
