2026-10-14T12:56:07Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33993109 2026-09-25T05:32:46Z category_39 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Data Sheet 2_Heterochrony as temporal redistribution of developmental burden.xlsx Dong-Gyun Han (14786725) Ecology developmental burden developmental priority developmental timing evolutionary developmental biology heterochrony paedomorphosis subsystem weighting temporal remapping <p>Heterochrony is central to evolutionary developmental biology because shifts in developmental onset, rate, or termination can generate morphological divergence. Yet it remains largely descriptive, identifying when developmental trajectories change without specifying how commitments are reorganized across interacting subsystems. Here, I propose an explicitly phenomenological framework that interprets heterochronic change as a temporal redistribution of developmental burden. Development is represented as a structured state of subsystem-specific masses and energetic expenditure rates, while developmental burden is introduced as a latent comparative index linking developmental organization to the energetic expenditure associated with organized growth. A heterochronic trajectory is decomposed into two operations: transformation of subsystem contributions and remapping of developmental time. In this framework, redistribution denotes an organizational reconfiguration of developmental burden through changes in subsystem weighting, coupling, priority, onset, rate, or termination. It does not necessarily presuppose a conserved resource, nor does it necessarily entail the transfer of energetic or material resources. Progenesis illustrates this distinction: reproductive maturity is attained earlier relative to somatic development and is represented as an earlier developmental endpoint, thereby redistributing burden in time without necessarily involving resource transfer. This separates changes in developmental organization from the stronger hypothesis of resource-linked allocation or trade-offs, which requires independent evidence. It also distinguishes instantaneous from cumulative burden and somatic development from reproductive maturation, preserving the biological differences among canonical heterochronic modes. The formalism generates testable expectations: prolonged development may reduce instantaneous burden while extending cumulative commitment, early termination may truncate somatic burden, and subsystem prioritization should produce temporally asymmetric growth or maturation profiles. Applications to amphibian paedomorphosis, human neural development, hominin evolution, dinosaur ontogeny, and bat limb development demonstrate its scope. The equations serve as formal organizing relations for comparative hypothesis development rather than as a parameterized predictive model. By connecting classical heterochronic categories with measurable growth, metabolic, and maturation data, the framework provides a common language for investigating how developmental timing, subsystem organization, and energetic feasibility jointly shape morphological evolution.</p> 2026-09-25T05:32:46Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fevo.2026.1917585.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Sheet_2_Heterochrony_as_temporal_redistribution_of_developmental_burden_xlsx/33993109 CC BY 4.0