[The historical problem of skull morphology--several scientific theoretical aspects]

The morphology of the skull is considered in a historical and gnosological context. The development of corresponding knowledge and methods is characterized by several paradigmatic changes from the classical vertebral theory to consideration of the skull as a biotic system. The accumulation of empirical knowledge was accompanied by increasing divergence between studies concerning the suborganistic structural plane and approaches to the description of the skull in its entirety as a functional system. The latter calls for a methodologically ambitious synthesis of results obtained from studies concerning the embryology, phylogenesis and biomechanics of the vertebrate skull.