Аннотация:Paedomorphosis is often suggested to be the evolutionary pathway leading to the origin ofinterstitial meiofauna. The environmental demands of the interstices supposedly warrant aone-step miniaturization from macroscopic to microscopic animals. Serial paedomorphicevents may lead to more reduced descendants within interstitial groups. Here, we examinethis phenomenon within the genus Dinophilus (Dinophilidae) – having two morphotypes aswell as dwarf males. While monomorphic D. taeniatus has a very long life cycle includingencystment, the dimorphic D. gyrociliatus has a life cycle of less than one month. The onsetof muscular, nervous and ciliary development is very similar between these two species. Themain differentiation occurs short before hatching, when D. taeniatus adds longitudinal andtransverse muscles to the early layout, while D. gyrociliatus females do not. More peculiar isthe nervous system, forming first one thick neurite bundle per segment linking the twoprominent longitudinal strands, and afterwards splitting into three thinner ones. While D.gyrociliatus seems to retain this layout in the adult stage, D. taeniatus later in developmentagain fuses the three commissures to one per segment. The additional ciliary band persegment in D. taeniatus forms short before or even after hatching. Although there is nomolecular data on how these two species are related, we have some evidence, that theircommon ancestor probably resembled D. taeniatus. This would mean that the neuro-muscular architecture of D. gyrociliatus is paedomorphic. However, a molecular phylogeny ofthe genus Dinophilus is needed to clarify and support this hypothesis.