The retention of juvenile traits in adulthood – failing to grow up, really – is called neoteny: in some species, developmental biologists will tell you, the juveniles never actually develop into the adult form; you could say that they grow old without growing up.
Peter Pan is as neotenous as it gets, and so is probably some pathetically immature ex-boyfriend or girlfriend you walked out on years ago. Among other species, the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a Mexican mole salamander, is perhaps the most famous example of neoteny: axolotl larvae fail to undergo complete metamorphosis, and the adults, instead of becoming salamanders equipped with lungs, retain their gills and remain fully aquatic (Dr Freud would have loved this one – think of all these people who never leave the amniotic safety of the womb, kind of thing).
The Axolotl Song, spotted on Arbroath, is a delightful little video featuring a lyrical axolotl that made the grade to salamanderhood.
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