neoteny

The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adults of a species, as among certain amphibians.

The attainment of sexual maturity and subsequent reproduction by an organism still in its larval stage.

In biology: The reversion of a phylum to a modified embryonic condition.

The retention by an organism of larval or juvenile characters beyond the time characteristic of other members of the group to which it belongs. This may be partial, as in the case of some toads and frogs, whose young pass the winter in the tadpole condition, or total, as in some salamanders that retain their external gills when adult. Also neotenia.

The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.

The sexual maturity of an organism still in its larval stage.

an evolutionary trend to be born earlier so that development is cut off at an earlier stage and juvenile characteristics are retained in adults of the species