This is a Festschrift in honor of Professor Wolfgang Maier on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2022, edited by Ingmar Werneburg and Irina Ruf.

Wolfgang Maier (* 1942) studied biology in Tübingen and was a doctoral student of Dietrich Starck in Frankfurt am Main, where he later also became a professor for human anatomy. In 1987, he moved back to Tübingen as chair for evolutionary zoology. In the course of his career, Maier studied different aspects of vertebrate morphology incl. dentition, the locomotor apparatus, and nasal anatomy of primates. His work comprises investigations on the pre- to postnatal stages of extant species as well as fossils. This resulted in a comprehensive research agenda on the evolutionary biology of mammals (and other vertebrates). Using a holistic organism concept, all of his studies are designed around the interrelationship of ontogenetic adaptation and evolutionary transformation.

This topical collection collates a series of research articles related to and in honor of Wolfgang Maier’s work. Colleagues and former students of Maier provide current insights to their own research, ranging from mammalian and reptilian anatomy to anthropology. The papers are invited.