ABSTRACT
After providing some general background on the structure of the vertebrate head with its specialized cranial sense and neurosecretory organs (Chapter 1), I will now present a more detailed review of the mechanisms underlying the embryonic development of cranial sensory and endocrine (neurosecretory) organs and the differentiation of sensory and neurosecretory cells in vertebrates with a focus on those cell types and organs arising from cranial placodes. This survey will be a prerequisite for further exploring the evolutionary history of these cell types and the evolutionary origin of novel vertebrate sense and neurosecretory organs in the second volume (Schlosser 2021).
