Tech UPTechnologyThe metamorphosis of the 'demogorgon' from Stranger Things

The metamorphosis of the 'demogorgon' from Stranger Things

 

Anyone who has seen the Stranger Things series knows the ‘demogorgon’ , the monstrous creature, native to the ‘upside down world’, main antagonist of the first season, and with recurring appearances throughout the series. This article, therefore, may include plots from the first and second seasons of the series, and it is recommended that you watch it first.

The demogorgon is a fictional creature that inhabits a fictional world. However, its design is so successful and its presentation so extraordinary that it allows us to study its morphology, its anatomy and even its life cycle, as if it were a real creature and even establish analogies and comparisons with real creatures.

How to classify the ‘demogorgon’

Before genetics was applied to establish phylogenetic relationships , living things were classified based on their morphology . Since we do not have a DNA sample of the ‘demogorgon’, we will have to appeal to this more classical system of biological classification.

Despite its humanoid appearance, the life cycle of the demogorgon is complex, it undergoes multiple changes since it is born, something that is not consistent with mammals, a group to which we humans belong. Their changes in appearance are more reminiscent of the metamorphosis of amphibians , also the skin is reminiscent of that of this group.

It is an anophthalmic organism, it lacks eyes. This aspect does not represent a problem in the classification; Many animals whose ancestors had eyes lack them as an evolutionary adaptation to darkness . An example of this adaptation can be found in the jameítos crabs, inhabitants of the Jameos del Agua in Lanzarote.

From ‘demogorgon’ agnato: an evolutionary atavism

However, another feature draws much more attention: the ‘demogorgon’ does not have jaws, it is agnathic . Instead, it has five fleshy lobes, on the inside of which there are numerous teeth.

In principle, this characteristic could prevent its classification as an amphibian. Amphibians are gnathostomes , that is, jawed vertebrates, as are reptiles, mammals, and most fish.

Only two groups of vertebrates lack jaws: hagfish and lampreys . The latter have a circular mouth in the shape of a sucker and covered with horny teeth in a concentric arrangement. This jawless mouthform, much more primitive in character, is consistent with the features of the ‘demogorgon’. However, lampreys do not have limbs, nor a respiratory system capable of using oxygen from the air, nor other adaptations that the ‘demogorgon’ presents.

A possible explanation would be, always considering that the ‘demogorgon’ is a fictitious organism, that an evolutionary atavism occurred. This event is defined as the evolutionary process by which an organism acquires traits that are characteristic of its ancestors, but were lost in the evolutionary process.

So the evolutionary ancestors of the ‘demogorgon’ could have jaws like those of any mammal, and lose them by evolutionary reversal, acquiring a circular mouth, with five lobes, and concentric teeth arranged on the inside.

The growth of the ‘demogorgon’

Most amphibians go through several phases during their life cycle. From the egg hatches a first legless tadpole ; then, through metamorphosis , it develops the hind legs, then the front ones, and if it is an anuran (frogs and toads), finally the tail is reabsorbed until it has the adult appearance.

In the ‘demogorgon’ the process is similar, although it goes through more phases and its metamorphosis is much more complex. Amphibians have flexible skin that can grow with the body, so they don’t need to molt, but the demogorgon is more reminiscent of reptiles in that regard.

As we well know, the skin of reptiles is covered with scales solidly overlapping one another, which do not allow growth. So, from time to time, they need to shed old skin and grow new skin to increase their size. For a short period of time, this skin is flexible and the animal grows, until it reaches a new size, which it will keep until the next moult. The ‘demogorgon’ also sheds its skin in its development – and leaves its previous “shirts”, like snakes.

The life cycle of the demogorgon

From the time it hatches from the egg, the ‘demogorgon’ goes through six larval stages until it becomes an adult.

The egg is first deposited in an appropriate host; it hatches, and the first larva is of the parasitic type. When this first stage concludes, the larva leaves the host organism through the mouth and begins a second free-living phase ; at this point, the demogorgon larva closely resembles a slug.

During the third stage , the ‘demogorgon’ develops the front legs that it uses to move. The body thickens, thus differing from the tail. In the fourth stage , it develops its hind legs, giving the appearance of a tadpole that, presenting all four legs, still retains its tail. Until now, the mouth is just a small, circular hole.

In the fifth larval stage , the legs become stronger and the animal manages to stand up. In addition, the mouth is transformed, and acquires the characteristic five toothed lobes. The sixth stage , prior to adulthood, is what the series calls ‘demoperro’, due to its similarity to these animals. They increase significantly in size, stand fully on all four legs, and the tail becomes much shorter.

After one last moult, the adult ‘demogorgon’ emerges. It assumes its bipedal posture and the tail disappears.

References:

Brown, D. D. et al. 2007. Amphibian metamorphosis. Developmental biology, 306(1), 20-33. DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2007.03.021

Elkan, E. et al. 1980. Skin biology of reptiles and amphibians. Proceedings of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh. Section B. Biological Sciences, 79(1-3), 115-126. DOI: 10.1017/S0269727000010368

Lewis, R. 2017. The Biology of “Stranger Things’’. DNA Science.

West-Eberhard, M. J. 2003. Reversion. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195122343.003.0018

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