Faster and smaller: Heterochronic shift in gene expression leads to larval onset of spermatogenesis and miniaturized males
Summary Heterochrony, a change in the timing of developmental events, is suggested as the prevailing evolutionary route to an underdeveloped or pedomorphic body plan. Many microscopic animal lineages (meiofauna) are hypothesized to descend from macroscopic ancestors, but direct evidence linking miniaturization to heter...