R. Glenn Northcutt Books

Much of the remarkable progress made recently in the understanding of forebrain organization and evolution in fishes is due to new molecular markers revealing new insights into forebrain development and organization, which is reflected in this publication. The authors present papers covering research of all major groups of fishes. Topics include the segmental organization of the forebrain in lampreys, new perspectives on the organization of the telecephalon in elasmobranchs, and an evolutionary interpretation of teleostean forebrain molecular anatomy. Further papers deal with an immunohistochemical approach to lungfish forebrain organization and with the comparisons of forebrain organization in the basal ray-finned fishes and the teleosts, and finally, the structural organization of the forebrain in fishes is summarized. The papers in this publication are based on the 20th Annual Karger Workshop held in Washington, D. C., in 2008, which was conceived to honor Professor Rudolf Nieuwenhuys, who celebrated his 80th birthday and who is the most eminent living comparative neurobiologist.

This special issue reviews the evolution and development of vertebrate sensory systems in a variety of organisms. The authors, leading researchers in the field, investigate these processes to understand the phylogeny of ontogenetic trajectories characterizing olfactory organs, eyes, lateral line systems, the inner ear, and taste buds in diverse vertebrates and the chordate amphioxus. A developmental and strongly comparative perspective is applied to a variety of levels, including elegant anatomical descriptions, molecular mechanisms underlying sensory development, and the ecological correlates of sensory diversity. The contributions highlight the value of combining developmental and evolutionary perspectives when exploring the diversity of neural systems and sensory structures found in vertebrates. A valuable source of information for developmental neurobiologists, neuroethologists and researchers studying the evolution of developmental trajectories, their mechanisms and modifications, particularly those related to the development of the nervous system.