pedomorphosis

Information about pedomorphosis

In developmental biology, pedomorphosis (also spelled paedomorphosis) or juvenification is a phenotypic and/or genotypic change in which the adults of a species retain traits previously seen only in juveniles. Peramorphosis is change in the reverse direction. The underlying mechanisms for this include heterochrony.

Pedomorphosis is common in many animal species domesticated by humans, including dogs, chickens, pigs and cattle. It is believed to be a side-effect of the selective pressure of human-directed breeding for juvenile behavioral characteristics such as docility.[1]

Natural pedomorphosis occurs in many species of Amphibians, especially Ambystomatid and Protean salamanders. Pedomorphosis in amphibians can be obligate or facultative. It also occurs in termites and several species of cockroaches.

An example of this would be some salamanders which retain the gills which, in most amphibians, are lost upon reaching adulthood. It's assumed that at some point in the past, their gills were lost just like all others, but some genetic change caused them to be retained, at a point where it was evolutionarily advantageous or neutral.

Pedomorphosis is also seen in the plant kingdom, where species can change rapidly in response to environmental shifts. One such example is the single species in the genus Oreostylidium, where a founder population of a more specialized plant from Australia reached New Zealand. The flowers were typically associated with a single pollinator species, but pollinators were unspecialized in its new home. It's hypothesized that in response to this new lack of pollinator pressure, the plants underwent a rapid evolution that allowed flowers to reach sexual maturity earlier as immature plants, thus fueling the pedomorphic change.[2]

There are several kinds of pedomorphism which may appear independently or in combination:
  • Neoteny, in which somatic (or physical) development is slowed, resulting in a sexually mature juvenile or larval form.
  • Progenesis, in which development is halted before full maturity.
  • Postdisplacement, in which the start of development is delayed.
Humans are considered by some scientists to be pedomorphic, due to their flattened face, short jaw, and bulbous forehead compared to other adult primates.

References

1. ^ Trut, Lyudmila N (1999), ""Early Canid Domestication: The Farm-Fox Experiment"", American Scientist 87 (2): 160-169, <[1]. (A Russian study of pedomorphosis in a 40-year breeding program to domesticate red foxes.)
2. ^ Wagstaff, S J & J Wege (2002), "Patterns of diversification in New Zealand Stylidiaceae", American Journal of Botany 89 (5): 865-874, <[2].
Developmental Biology is the official journal of the Society for Developmental Biology. It publishes research on the mechanisms of development, differentiation, and growth in animals and plants at the molecular, cellular, and genetic levels.
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phenotype describes the total physical appearance of an organism, as opposed to its genotype. This genotype-phenotype distinction was proposed by Wilhelm Johannsen in 1911 to make clear the difference between an organism's heredity and what that heredity produces.
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juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size.

In many organisms the juvenile has a different name from the adult, see List of animal names.
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In developmental biology, peramorphosis is a phylogenetic change in which individuals of a species mature past adulthood and take on hitherto unseen traits. It is the reverse of pedomorphosis.
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In biology, heterochrony is defined as a developmental change in the timing of events, leading to changes in size and shape. There are two main components, namely (i) the onset and offset of a particular process, and (ii) the rate at which the process operates.
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Domestication refers to the process whereby a population of animals or plants becomes accustomed to human provision and control. Humans have brought these populations under their care for a wide range of reasons: to produce food or valuable commodities (such as wool, cotton, or
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chicken (Gallus gallus) is a type of domesticated fowl, believed to be descended from the wild Indian and south-east Asian Red Junglefowl.

The chicken is one of the most common and wide-spread domestic animals.
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Sus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

Sus barbatus
Sus bucculentus†
Sus cebifrons
Sus celebensis
Sus domestica
Sus falconeri†
Sus heureni

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Artificial selection is the intentional breeding of certain traits, or combinations of traits, over others. It was originally defined by Charles Darwin in contrast to the process of natural selection, in which the differential reproduction of organisms with certain traits is
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Selective breeding in domesticated animals is the process of developing a cultivated breed over time.

Purebreds

See also:

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Amphibia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses and Orders

   Order Temnospondyli - extinct
Subclass Lepospondyli - extinct
Subclass Lissamphibia
   Order Anura
   Order Caudata
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Ambystomatidae

Genera

Ambystoma
''Dicamptodon?
~Rhyacosiredon~

Ambystomatidae is a family of salamanders belonging to the order Caudata in the class Amphibia.
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Proteidae

Genera

Necturus
Proteus
The Mudpuppies or Waterdogs are a family of aquatic salamanders.

Taxonomy

The mudpuppy family, Proteidae, is divided into two genera - the mudpuppies proper, Necturus
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Obligate could be:
  • A verb (see obligation)
  • An adjective meaning "by necessity" (antonym facultative) and used mostly in biology, especially in the phrases:

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Plantae
Haeckel, 1866[1]

Divisions

Green algae
  • Chlorophyta
  • Charophyta
Land plants (embryophytes)
  • Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes)

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Oreostylidium
Berggr. 1878

Species: O. subulatum

Binomial name
Oreostylidium subulatum
Berggr.
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founder effect was defined by Ernst Mayr in 1963 to be the effect of establishing a new population by a small number of individuals, carrying only a small fraction of the original population's genetic variation.
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Anthem
Advance Australia Fair [1]


Capital Canberra

Largest city Sydney
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Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
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A pollinator is the biotic agent (vector) that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain.
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Neoteny (niː.ɒ.tə.niː) is the retention, by adults in a species, of traits previously seen only in juveniles (pedomorphosis/paedomorphosis), and is a subject studied in the field of developmental biology.
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somatic refers to the body, as distinct from some other entity, such as the mind. The word comes from the Greek word Σωματικóς (Somatikòs), meaning "of the body". It has different meanings in various disciplines.
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Progenesis is a mechanism in developmental biology that is associated with paedomorphosis. Progenesis refers to the attainment of sexual maturity by an organism still in its larval or juvenile stage and a secondary result of never experiencing later developmental stages.
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American Scientist (ISSN 0003-0996) is an illustrated bimonthly magazine about science and technology. Each issue includes four to five feature articles written by prominent scientists and engineers.
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Anthem
Hymn of the Russian Federation


Capital
(and largest city) Moscow

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V. vulpes

Binomial name
Vulpes vulpes
Linnaeus, 1758

Red Fox range


Synonyms
Vulpes fulva, Vulpes fulvus The Red Fox (
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