Birds May be Paedomorphic Dinosaurs
29th May 2012
Paedomorphosis is the evolutionary process in which a descendant retains the juvenile state of an ancestor, retaining certain juvenile features of the ancestor into adulthood and reproductive age. Paedomorphosis is one example of heterochrony: the process (discussed by Steve Gould in his book Ontogeny and Phylogeny) whereby evolution operates by changing the timing of development.
Bet you didn’t know that.