Origin of the lower jaw in cephalopods: a biting issue

A survey of serial, histological sections of cephalopod embryos at early and advanced morphogenetic stages provided evidence that always the cutting edge of the lower jaw is first connected, by a thin organic membrane, to the cutting edge of the upper jaw. The lower jaw rudiment does not exhibit any separation of the right from the left half. The evolutionary origin of the lower jaw, which has no obvious homologue in other molluscs, remains a matter of debate.