Dorsal (left) and ventral (right) views of the carapace (dorsal half of the turtle shell) of Chinese softshelled turtle. The carapace forms from laterally expanded ribs. http //w w w cd b .ren.jp /enuratani Shigeru Kuratani received his masters and Ph. D. from the Kyoto University Department of Zoology. He spent the period from 1988 to 1991 working in experimental embryology in the Department of Anatomy at the Medical College of Georgia before moving to the Biochemistry Department at the Baylor College of Medicine, where he was engaged in molecular embryological research. He returned to Japan in 1994 to take a position as associate professor at the Institute of Medical Embryology and Genetics in the Kumamoto University School of Medicine. He moved to Okayama University to assume a professorship in the Department of Biology in 1997, where he remained until he was appointed team leader at the CDB. He was appointed group director in 2005.