neoteny

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ne·ot·e·ny

(nē-ŏt′n-ē)

1. The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adults of a species, as among certain amphibians. Also called pedomorphism, pedomorphosis.

2. The attainment of sexual maturity and subsequent reproduction by an organism still in its larval stage. Also called pedogenesis².

[New Latin neotenia : neo- + Greek teinein, ten-, to extend; see tenesmus.]

ne′o·ten′ic (nē′ə-tĕn′ĭk, -tē′nĭk), ne·ot′e·nous (-ŏt′n-əs) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

neoteny

(nɪˈɒtənɪ) or

neoteinia

(Zoology) the persistence of larval or fetal features in the adult form of an animal. For example, the adult axolotl, a salamander, retains larval external gills. See also paedogenesis

[C19: from New Latin neotenia, from Greek neo- + teinein to stretch]

neotenic, neˈotenous adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ne•ot•e•ny

(niˈɒt n i)

n.

1. the production of offspring by an organism in its larval or juvenile form; the elimination of the adult phase of the life cycle.

2. the retention in adulthood of a feature or features that appeared in an earlier phase in the life cycle of ancestral individuals.

[1900–05; < New Latin neotēnia < Greek neo- neo- + teín(ein) to stretch + -ia -y³]

ne•ot′e•nous, adj.

neoteny

the capacity or state of becoming sexually mature in the larval stage. — neotenous, adj.