Following topics (among any others, related to the origin of vertebrates) will be addressed:

·     Origin of vertebrate structure ("new head", somite differentiation, etc.)

·     Origin of bone tissue

·     Origin of the neural crest and placodes

·     Acrania-Craniota relationships

·     Relationships of vertebrates to other chordates and invertebrates

·     Fossil record

·     Significance of conodonts

·     Gene duplication in the origin of vertebrates

·     Historical aspects of the studies on the origin of vertebrates