Definition of neoteny in English:

noun

• 1Zoology
  The retention of juvenile features in the adult animal.

  More example sentences

  • ‘This is a classic example of an evolutionary phenomenon known as neoteny - the retention of larval or juvenile features in mature adults.’
  • ‘In fact Neo, as he has been named, suffers from a condition known as neoteny, where juvenile characteristics, like gills, are retained into adulthood.’
  • ‘Among early codiacrinids adaptive forms evolved initially through both neoteny and progenesis.’
  • ‘This combination of characters is best interpreted as evolution through neoteny.’
  • ‘Some species (for example, the axolotl) display neoteny - that is, the larval features persist into sexual maturity.’

  1. 1.1The sexual maturity of an animal while it is still in a mainly larval state, as in the axolotl.
     Also called paedogenesis
     ‘The acquisition of sexual maturity by an animal while still in the larval stage is a process that goes under the name neoteny.’
     Also called paedogenesis
     ‘Facultative neoteny also occurs in some species of true salamanders.’