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The earliest known study in developmental biology was a work on comparative embryology, ''The Generation of Animals'', attributed to Aristotle ca. 350 BC.<ref>http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/generation/</ref>  While this work accurately describes the morphological development embryos of various animal species, it would not be until the 17th century AD that researchers would undertake more detailed studies.

The earliest known study in developmental biology was a work on comparative embryology, ''The Generation of Animals'', attributed to Aristotle ca. 350 BC.<ref>http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/generation/</ref>  While this work accurately describes the morphological development embryos of various animal species, it would not be until the 17th century AD that researchers would undertake more detailed studies.

Armed with the recently-invented microscope, investigators such as Marcello Malpighi, who published his description of chick embryonic development in 1672, and Kaspar Friedrich Wolff, who undertook the first studies on [[organogenesis|organ development]] in the 1760s, were finally able to start the still-ongoing process of unraveling the intricacies of organismal development.

Armed with the recently invented microscope, investigators such as Marcello Malpighi, who published his description of chick embryonic development in 1672, and Kaspar Friedrich Wolff, who undertook the first studies on [[organogenesis|organ development]] in the 1760s, were finally able to start the still-ongoing process of unraveling the intricacies of organismal development.

With the advent of [[genetics]] in the early 20th century and, later, modern [[molecular biology|molecular techniques]], scientists began to investigate even deeper.  The field turned toward examining the molecular mechanisms underlying the morphological processes which the microscope had revealed.<ref>Gilbert (2006). Developmental Biology.</ref>  This work combined with advances in molecular biology, [[population genetics]], and the [[modern synthesis|modern evolutionary synthesis]] to create the field (and research paradigm) of [[evolutionary developmental biology]] (commonly called "evo-devo").<ref>http://web.biosci.utexas.edu/genetics/Literature/articles/Development/Development,%20%20HOX%20Evolution.pdf</ref>

With the advent of [[genetics]] in the early 20th century and, later, modern [[molecular biology|molecular techniques]], scientists began to investigate even deeper.  The field turned toward examining the molecular mechanisms underlying the morphological processes which the microscope had revealed.<ref>Gilbert (2006). Developmental Biology.</ref>  This work combined with advances in molecular biology, [[population genetics]], and the [[modern synthesis|modern evolutionary synthesis]] to create the field (and research paradigm) of [[evolutionary developmental biology]] (commonly called "evo-devo").<ref>http://web.biosci.utexas.edu/genetics/Literature/articles/Development/Development,%20%20HOX%20Evolution.pdf</ref>