"There is an interesting blend in the contents and goals of the different chapters. Chapters 3–8 are consecutive to one another in their content, and offer a superb synopsis of the main events that punctuated the evolutionary history of chordates. This storytelling section of the book features a comprehensive review of current research on hemichordates that outlines their relationship with chordates; a firsthand account of how amphioxus was literally dug out of the mud and catapulted to the center stage of research on chordate origins; the fascinating tale of a group of ascidians that lost their tail; an exquisite description of neural crest cells, as they travel across the body during chordate development and travel back in evolutionary time to their distant origins in nonchordate bilaterians; and exceptionally well>crafted reports of the theories and recent views on the origins and evolution of jaws, cranium, and face, the milestones leading to the vertebrate head. In summary, this volume equips its readers, both newcomers and experts, with an essential vade mecum of key concepts in evolutionary biology, and with a detailed history of chordate innovations and their origins." --The Quarterly Review of Biology