— neotenous /nee ot"n euhs/ , adj.
/nee ot"n ee/ , n. Biol.
1. Also called pedogenesis . the production of offspring by an organism in its larval or juvenile form; the elimination of the adult phase of the life cycle.
2. a slowing of the rate of development with the consequent retention in adulthood of a feature or features that appeared in an earlier phase in the life cycle of ancestral individuals: Neoteny in the ostrich has resulted in adult birds sporting the down feathers of nestlings.
[ 1900-05; neotenia neo- NEO- + teín ( ein ) to stretch + - ia -Y 3 ]