ArticleActa biotheoretica2026
Neoteny and Evolutionary Strategy: Reconsidering Developmental Arrest in the Axolotl and the Olm.
Article in Acta biotheoretica, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Abstract
This article examines neoteny and regressive evolution in two emblematic amphibian species: Ambystoma mexicanum (axolotl) and Proteus anguinus (olm). Rather than framing larval persistence and trait loss as evolutionary shortcomings, the paper proposes an alternative interpretation in which developmental arrest functions as a viable population-level outcome of selection under specific ecological constraints, rather than as a developmental shortcoming. Drawing on evo-devo literature, endocrine regulation of metamorphosis, and comparative life-history analysis, the study argues that both species exemplify non-teleological evolutionary pathways. By foregrounding strategy over deficiency, the article contributes to broader debates on normativity, progress, and directionality in evolutionary biology.
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