Model for the origin of the gnathostome jaw. Comparative embryology of A) lamprey, a representative cyclostome, and B) skark, a representative basal gnathostome. In lamprey, the nasal and hypophyseal placodes (NHP) are continuous. In shark the nasal (NP) and hypophyseal (HP) placodes are distinct. The early separation of these placodes in shark allows post-optic CNC to migrate anterior to the HP. Migration of trigeminal CNC streams are modeled in with orange arrows: m, mandibular CNC stream; po, post-optic CNC stream; pr, pre-optic CNC stream. The Dlx+ CNC contributing to the oral apparatus (upper and lower lips in lamprey and the jaw in shark) is shown in green. Note that both the mandibular and post-optic CNC express Dlx in lamprey. The alteration in CNC migration patterns also reconfigures the relationship between the oral ectoderm and the first pharyngeal pouch such that the distance between them (represented by red arrows) is greatly reduced in shark relative to lamprey. This alteration to spatial relationships between the pharyngeal epithelia is hypothesized to mediate inductive interactions generating an organizer at the jaw Hinge (pink disc). e, eye; ov, otic vesicle; notochord in blue; pharynx in yellow. Morphological depictions adapted from ().Cyclostomes have all the cell populations, and many of the tissue interactions required to form the gnathostome jaw (;–). The origin of the jaw does not appear to be associated with the evolution of new genes, as the major genes involved in jaw patterning, especially Dlx genes and endothelin signaling, are thought to be ancestral for vertebrates (–). The major difference between gnathostomes and cyclostomes is the spatial relationship of the expression of these key genes. Gnathostome PAs are patterned along 2 major axes, anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral. Patterning along the proximal-distal axis within PA1, may also be critical to evolutionary diversification of the jaw. Cyclostome PAs share patterns of Hox gene expression with gnathostomes, including a Hox-negative PA1, indicating they have anterior-posterior patterning (–). Thus, a major difference between agnathans and gnathostomes lies in dorsal-ventral polarity of PA1., The human-caused mass extinction that scientists suggest is already driving an abnormally high number of animal species out of existence is accelerating, according to new research. At least 543 , The FEZ has been relatively well characterized and identified across a broad range of taxa (mice, avians, and zebrafish). Further, modifications to the spatial organization of Shh expression in the FEZ during development have been linked with differences in upper jaw morphology (74)..