The strongly paedomorphic skull form in the pygmy chimpanzee results from the heterochronic process of neoteny. This cranial paedomorphosis and neoteny in Pan paniscus may be related to reduced sexual dimorphism in morphology and behavior. The interspecific differences in form result from shifts in the rate and timing of similar patterns of development.
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Brian T. Shea (1983) studied this question.
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