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Misinformation... it ranks as a top pet peeve of mine.
It started as a slight quirk whenever I saw paedomorphy or neoteny used to describe an animal's behaviour. Problem: These two words describe physical characteristics only.
After seeing these terms used erroneously, I went to go check the parent articles and oh sweet jesus were they wrong. Close, but wrong.
I understand that these concepts in the field of developmental biology, while similar and related, aren't the same and never, ever, ever deal with anything other than physiological differences.
Heterochrony: something developing at a rate different than that of its ancestor.
Paedomorphy: an organism that retains the appearance of being physically juvenile.
Neoteny: the delay or slowing of an organism from attaining its ancestral adult form. A mechanism of paedomorphy.
Progenesis: the arrest of development of an organism before achieving the ancestral adult form. These organisms achieve sexual maturity in a juvenile or larval stage, sometimes still in utero. A mechanism of paedomorphy.
finally,
Paedogenesis: that actual reproduction by organisms in its juvenile or larval state, sometimes occurring still in utero.
Questions?
... I hate being obsessive about misinformation ...
It started as a slight quirk whenever I saw paedomorphy or neoteny used to describe an animal's behaviour. Problem: These two words describe physical characteristics only.
After seeing these terms used erroneously, I went to go check the parent articles and oh sweet jesus were they wrong. Close, but wrong.
I understand that these concepts in the field of developmental biology, while similar and related, aren't the same and never, ever, ever deal with anything other than physiological differences.
Heterochrony: something developing at a rate different than that of its ancestor.
Paedomorphy: an organism that retains the appearance of being physically juvenile.
Neoteny: the delay or slowing of an organism from attaining its ancestral adult form. A mechanism of paedomorphy.
Progenesis: the arrest of development of an organism before achieving the ancestral adult form. These organisms achieve sexual maturity in a juvenile or larval stage, sometimes still in utero. A mechanism of paedomorphy.
finally,
Paedogenesis: that actual reproduction by organisms in its juvenile or larval state, sometimes occurring still in utero.
Questions?
... I hate being obsessive about misinformation ...
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