Emerging developmental model systems

This primer briefly describes four emerging animal model systems that promise to provide insights into specific aspects of developmental biology. Highlighted here are two relatively well‐characterized model systems, Gasterosteus aculeatus (three‐spine stickleback fish) and Schmidtea mediterranea (planarian), as well as two organisms on which research is in its infancy, Carollia perspicillata (short‐tailed fruit bat), and the basal metazoan, Trichoplax adhaerens. Scientists who helped develop these species into model systems discuss why they chose to research these animals. Developmental Dynamics 235:2895–2899, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.