What is Paedomorphosis in biology?
Paedomorphosis, also spelled Pedomorphosis, retention by an organism of juvenile or even larval traits into later life.
What is the concept of neoteny?
Neoteny (/niˈɒtəni/), also called juvenilization, is the delaying or slowing of the physiological (or somatic) development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny is found in modern humans. Some authors define paedomorphism as the retention of larval traits, as seen in salamanders.
What is neoteny with example?
neoteny is the condition in which an organism reaches maturity without losing all of its juvenile characteristics. Typical examples would include becoming sexually viable while still in a larvae stage or retention of gills in an adult.
Are humans neotenic?
However, humans also have relatively large noses and long legs, both peramorphic (not neotenic) traits, though said peramorphic traits that separate modern humans from extant chimpanzees were present in Homo erectus to an even higher degree than in Homo sapiens, keeping general neoteny valid for the H.
What is an example of paedomorphosis?
Paedomorphosis has occurred when reproduction is seen in what was ancestrally a juvenile morphological stage. This can be the result of neoteny or progenesis. The Mexican axolotl opposite is a famous example of paedomorphosis, retaining in maturity the feathery gills that related species lose in infancy. …
What is the difference between neoteny and paedomorphosis?
Abstract. Paedomorphosis and neoteny represent two qualitatively different phenomena: neoteny is an adaptive modification of ontogeny, whereas paedomorphosis is its transformation in the course of evolution.
What does Neotenized mean?
To cause to become neotenic; to breed (a domestic animal) to retain juvenile characteristics in adulthood. Also: to endow (a person or animal) with immature features or attributes; to make juvenile in appearance or behaviour.
What is Heterochrony example?
Heterochrony is a change in the timing of developmental events. For example, a change in timing might slow down the development of the body, but not alter the maturation of the reproductive system. This change yields an adult organism with a form similar to the ancestral juvenile form.
What is a Neotenic salamander?
Like other amphibians, it lays eggs in water, is aquatic in the larval stage and becomes terrestrial (land-based) as an adult. It tends to be nocturnal and will eat whatever it can catch. It is a species of mole salamander and is one of the largest salamanders in North America.
What causes Paedomorphosis?
Progenesis has been suggested as the main cause of paedomorphosis in ophiuroids [34], based on the small size of strongly paedomorphic species. Distinguishing paedomorphic states from juvenile ones is not easy, and juveniles of known species have been described as new species.
Why do humans grow so slow?
Blame the brain. One widely accepted but hard-to-test theory is that children’s brains consume so much energy that they divert glucose from the rest of the body, slowing growth. Now, a clever study of glucose uptake and body growth in children confirms this “expensive tissue” hypothesis.
What are the types of Heterochrony?
Heterochrony can be separated into two different types: paedomorphosis (literally “child-shape”) and peramorphosis (literally “beyond-shape”).
