Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context biology English) The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult. 2 (context biology English) The sexual maturity of an organism still in its larval stage.
WordNet
n. an evolutionary trend to be born earlier so that development is cut off at an earlier stage and juvenile characteristics are retained in adults of the species
Wikipedia
Neoteny ( or ), also called juvenilization, is one of the two ways by which paedomorphism can arise. Paedomorphism or paedomorphosis is the retention by adults of traits previously seen only in the young, and is a subject studied in the field of developmental biology. Neoteny is found in modern humans. Paedomorphism can also be the retention of larval traits which is commonly studied in salamanders. In neoteny, the physiological (or somatic) development of an organism (typically an animal) is slowed or delayed. In contrast, in progenesis, sexual development occurs faster. Both processes result in paedomorphism, a type of heterochrony. Ultimately this process results in the retention, in the adults of a species, of juvenile physical characteristics well into maturity and pedogenesis (paedogenesis), or reproduction in a neotenized state.
Neoteny is one of three dimensions of heterochrony, or the change in timing of developmental events: acceleration (faster) vs. neoteny (slower), hypermorphosis (further) vs. progenesis (not as far), and predisplacement (begins earlier) vs. postdisplacement (begins later).
Usage examples of "neoteny".
Indeed, the particular cause of the differences was easy enough to identify: it was neoteny, the retention into adulthood of childhood characteristics.
What caused neoteny was unknown, but like most unknowns, it had a name: heterochrony.
A global repression came down on adolescents who exhibited these clear signs of neoteny, i.
Evolutionary Agents who had become public symbols of neoteny continued to be harassed.
And he has every intention of staying young for that entire vast span even into the endless petaseconds that might follow, although by then, megayears hence, he speculates that issues of neoteny will no longer interest him.
And he has every intention of staying young for that entire vast span – even into the endless petaseconds that might follow, although by then, megayears hence, he speculates that issues of neoteny will no longer interest him.