Axolotl

Abernathy, Richard. "Axolotl." F&SF Jan. 1954. Rpt. Best Short Stories and Novels, 1955. T. E. Dikty, ed. New York: Frederick Fell, 1955. Rpt. as "Deep Space." Five Tales from Tomorrow. T. E. Dikty, ed. New York: Fawcett, 1957.

After a particularly traumatic birth-like experience in space, the protagonist metamorphoses "into a super-human creature able to live in space without technology: the next step of human evolution." Summarized and discussed by E. Vonarburg, whom we quote here, "Birth and Rebirth in Space," q.v. under Literary Criticism; cf. 2001 as film and the A. C. Clarke novel.