Conklin's Art and Science
The Organization and Cell-Lineage of the Ascidian Egg
(Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13: 1–119)
Edwin G. Conklin
In 1905, E. G. Conklin published a remarkable fate map of the ascidian embryo. He showed that "all the principle organs of the larva in their definitive positions and proportions are here marked out in the 2-cell stage by distinct kinds of protoplasm." This study of cell lineage has been the basis for all subsequent research on the autonomous specification of tunicates. The color plates of this study are considered to be some of the best examples of embryological illustration and descriptive anatomy. To present them here, we have scanned in the original five plates of this paper. To see an enlargement of each embryo along with Conklin's original caption, please click on an individual image below.
Plate 1
Plate 2
Plate 3
Plate 4
Plate 5
