Neoteny

"Paedogenesis" redirects here. For the topic of soil formation, see Pedogenesis.

Neoteny (/niˈɒtəni/),[1][2][3][4] also called juvenilization,[5] is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny is found more in modern humans compared to other primates.[6] In progenesis or paedogenesis, sexual development is accelerated.[7]

Both neoteny and progenesis result in paedomorphism[8] (as having the form typical of children) or paedomorphosis[9] (changing towards forms typical of children), a type of heterochrony.[10] It is the retention in adults of traits previously seen only in the young. Such retention is important in evolutionary biology, domestication, and evolutionary developmental biology. Some authors define paedomorphism as the retention of larval traits, as seen in salamanders.[11][12][13]

  1. ^ "neoteny". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. ^ "neoteny". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  3. ^ "neoteny". Lexico US English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
  4. ^ "neoteny". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  5. ^ Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT.
  6. ^ Choi, Charles Q. (1 July 2009). "Being More Infantile May Have Led to Bigger Brains". Scientific American.
  7. ^ Volkenstein, M. V. 1994. Physical Approaches to Biological Evolution. Springer-Verlag: Berlin, [1].
  8. ^ "Paedomorphic". 21 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Morphosis". 6 June 2022.
  10. ^ Ridley, Mark (1985). Evolution. Blackwell.
  11. ^ Whiteman, H.H. (1994). "Evolution of facultative paedomorphosis". Quarterly Review of Biology. 69 (2): 205–221. doi:10.1086/418540. S2CID 83500486.
  12. ^ Schell, S. C. Handbook of Trematodes of North America North of Mexico, 1985, pg. 22
  13. ^ Ginetsinskaya, T.A. Trematodes, Their Life Cycles, Biology and Evolution. Leningrad, USSR: Nauka 1968. Translated in 1988, [2].