📚 noun • entry_id 21178
neoteny
/niˈɒtəni/
Meanings (ES + gloss)
neotenia
The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.
Most amphibians are aquatic only while young, but some amphibians with neoteny remain aquatic even as adults.
Richard Wrangham has noted that the domestication of animals usually tames them by slowing down components of the developmental timetable to retain juvenile traits into adulthood,…
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