Neoteny

<p>Neoteny , also called juvenilization, is the delaying or slowing of the <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiological</a>, or <a href="/facts/Somatic_(biology)/u4rffSjE">somatic</a>, development of an organism, typically an animal. <a href="/facts/Neoteny_in_humans/9AapzYSI">Neoteny in modern humans</a> is more significant than in other primates. In progenesis or paedogenesis, <a href="/facts/Sexual_development/vjfPAKf4">sexual development</a> is accelerated.
</p><p>Both neoteny and progenesis result in paedomorphism (as having the form typical of children) or paedomorphosis (changing towards forms typical of children), a type of <a href="/facts/Heterochrony/HHRRnCCH">heterochrony</a>. It is the retention in adults of traits previously seen only in the young. Such retention is important in <a href="/facts/Evolutionary_biology/8tBoG55U">evolutionary biology</a>, <a href="/facts/Domestication/tWB5s52s">domestication</a>, and <a href="/facts/Evolutionary_developmental_biology/gl4ysPCa">evolutionary developmental biology</a>. Some authors define paedomorphism as the retention of <a href="/facts/Larval/GKo2FIew">larval</a> traits, as seen in <a href="/facts/Salamanders/5pKurkwV">salamanders</a>.
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Neoteny open-in-new

Neoteny