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From what I’ve read, Salamanders of all kind retain their stem-cell embryonic growth capabilities in their early life (after birth). But once they become adults
by sheepscreek 1y ago
From what I’ve read, Salamanders of all kind retain their stem-cell embryonic growth capabilities in their early life (after birth). But once they become adults, they become more mortal like the rest of us. But Axolotls for some reason never lose their ability.
- crazydoggers 1y agoAn axolotl is a salamander that remains in its larval form throughout its life, while most salamanders go through a metamorphosis during sexual maturity, so it’s not surprising it retains embryonic growth capabilities. There’s actually a theory that hominid ancestors at some point split off from other great apes by also not going through the typical great ape sexual maturity. For examples humans look a lot more like juvenile chimps that we do sexually mature chimps.
- crooked-v 1y agoMy theory would be that neoteny goes hand-in-hand with the traits of domestication (social friendliness, high tolerance of strangers, etc), and that humans are effectively self-domesticated.
- airstrike 1y agoSome of this is alluded to in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny_in_humans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny_in_humans which is a fascinating read, as is this very thread. Thanks for the food for thought!
- tmtvl 1y agoI believe there's also a hypothesis that our ancestry back to the Devonian or Cambrian was based on neoteny/paedomorphism where a particular creature living on the sea floor, when in the infant stage, has a limb for propulsion which it loses when it finds a nice spot to settle. Our very distant ancestors didn't lose those limbs and evolved into the distant precursors to placaderms, bony fish, and, well, terrestrial fauna.