Embryology occupies an important position when it comes to understanding anatomy. We can gain much from considering how anatomy is constructed during development, as this not only reveals the emergence of the parts of the body but further highlights affinities and, in many instances, surprising differences between regions. Anatomy is also very important to embryology, or developmental biology as it is more commonly termed. Much of modern developmental biology is obsessed with molecular detail but of course the process of embryology must result in the formation of an animal that works; functional anatomy must be realised, and to appreciate this an anatomical framework for developmental biology studies is vitally important.
In this issue of Journal of Anatomy, we publish a collection of five papers that emerged from the Winter 2016 meeting of the Anatomical Society, whose theme was “Understanding anatomy through embryology”. The first of these is from Jamie Davies and this review article discusses the importance of the self‐organising behaviour of cells during organogenesis and how this can contribute to anatomical variation. The second paper is also a review article in which Roger Keynes gives an overview of his extensive work on the development of the somites and the peripheral nerves and how this results in the co‐ordination between the spinal nerves and the vertebral column. The third review is from Clemens Kiecker, who discusses the origin of the circumventricular organs. This group of structures have not been extensively discussed but play critically important functions. These review articles are followed by two original research articles. The first is from Bill Chaudhry and colleagues; in this paper the authors detail the development and maturation of the arterial roots. The second is from Neil Vargesson and colleagues in which they analyse the consequences on limb development of exposure of embryo to CPS49, an anti‐angiogenic analogue of thalidomide. Collectively, these papers highlight the fact that embryology is a vibrant area and one that is still providing new perspectives on anatomy.