neoteny

From German Neotenie, coined in 1884 by anatomist Julius Kollmann from Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “young”) + τείνειν (teínein, “to tense”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /niˈɒtəni/
• (US) IPA^(key): /niˈɑːtəni/

neoteny (countable and uncountable, plural neotenies)

1. (biology) 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.

   • 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 744:

     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, a process called pedomorphy or neoteny.

2. (biology) The sexual maturity of an organism still in its larval stage.

• pedomorphism

• agerasia

• neoteny on Wikipedia.Wikipedia