#and why changing apperances via chemical and sewing on extra limbs or whatever is much easier

[saltycharacters]

Dodeca earth fact of the day: Almost all life on the planet came from gelatinous, shapeshifting organisms, introduced when the meteor they previously inhabited crashed onto the surface. They use to shapeshift to adress their constantly-changing environment on the meteor, only surviving through their incredible adaptability and durability. Eventually though, they began losing that power as one of them learned how to stiffle genetic fluxuation, and attacked others in order to assure total resource dominance. Thankfully, the meteorite fall happened soon after, allowing the remaining shapeshifters to spread out and take their last few forms in a stabler environment.

In the current time, thousands of years later, the shapeshifting ability of the population varies; after so much time and generations, whether your dna staved off the infection and regained its shifting capabilities (and to what extend) becomes highly dependant on luck and genetics. There's also instances of people abnormally changing slowly over time, in sudden, uncontrollable bursts, and etc- again, how your latent shapeshifting manifests varies from person to person, if it does at all.