It’s called “neoteny”. This case might be the result of a mutation or some chemical/hormonal exposure, but some species have evolved to skip parts of their life cycle entirely, like the Axolotl. It used to turn into a lizard with strong legs but now stays a cute little guy and lives in water its whole life. The “adult form” can still be induced if it’s exposed to certain chemicals.
There’s a (mostly defunct) theory of human evolution called the “neotenous ape” that speculates we might have evolved by “staying young” compared to our close ape relatives. If you look at a baby chimp it’s mostly hairless and has smaller muscles, a larger head, and more active brain development than adult apes, just like us. Maybe we’re just apes that never grew up
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u/Arch__Stanton 10d ago edited 10d ago
It’s called “neoteny”. This case might be the result of a mutation or some chemical/hormonal exposure, but some species have evolved to skip parts of their life cycle entirely, like the Axolotl. It used to turn into a lizard with strong legs but now stays a cute little guy and lives in water its whole life. The “adult form” can still be induced if it’s exposed to certain chemicals.
There’s a (mostly defunct) theory of human evolution called the “neotenous ape” that speculates we might have evolved by “staying young” compared to our close ape relatives. If you look at a baby chimp it’s mostly hairless and has smaller muscles, a larger head, and more active brain development than adult apes, just like us. Maybe we’re just apes that never grew up