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This paper reviews Gould's clock model for heterochronic processes and uses that model to develop simple matrix representations of growth and shape change. Matrix representations of growth and development provide a common formulation for all heterochronic processes. In particular, we show how neoteny can be diagnosed using such a matrix approach. The literature is rife with contradictory representations of how neoteny affects growth allometries and the timing of developmental events, and therefore of the role of neoteny in human evolution. Through the use of multivariate models, we explore these relationships and the internal consistency of opposing views.

Gould's neoteny hypothesis for human evolution has been criticized for a number of reasons. Humans do not grow slowly. The slopes of our growth allometries show no common pattern of change vis‐a‐vis those of our closest relatives. Humans …