neotenen.adj.
/ˈniːə(ʊ)tiːn/, U.S. /ˈniəˌtin/ Chiefly Biology.
A. n.
An individual or species that exhibits neoteny.In quot. 1959: the human being so characterized.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [noun] > sexual organs > immaturity in adult life > having prolonged period of immaturity
neotene1951
1951 Amer. Midland Naturalist 46 393 It is possible that transfer to the laboratory and subsequent handling speeded up transformation of the small salamanders, as it apparently initiated it in the two neotenes.
1959 W. H. Auden Homage to Clio (1960) 25 The neotene who marches Upright and can subtract.
1984 Gen. & Compar. Endocrinol. 56 321 Following injection of 5 mU bovine TSH circulating levels of T4 are raised about 4 times in neotenes, but more than 50 times in metamorphosed animals.
1995 Jrnl. Evol. Biol. 8 343 Semlitsch and Wilbur..artificially selected for neoteny in a subpopulation of the facultative neotene A[mbystoma] talpoideum.
B. adj.
= neotenic adj. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [adjective] > morphogenesis > derivation or appearance of characters
paedomorphic1892
neotenic1894
fetalized1922
caenogenetic1930
neotene1987
1987 Developmental Neurosci. 9 241/2 In neotene axolotls the concentration of the protein-bound NeuAc is considerably higher as compared with that of the metamorphic animals.
1990 Jrnl. Exper. Zool. (Suppl. 4) 154 Acid extracts of anterior pituitaries obtained from larval, neotene, postmetamorphic young adult, and sexually active adult Ambystoma tigrinum were fractionated by gel filtration and analyzed by RIA.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1951