A Tripartite Meeting of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Nederlandse Anatomen Vereniging and the Anatomische Gesellschaft was held at St John's College, University of Cambridge, from 24th – 26th July 2000. It included symposia on ‘The neuroanatomical basis of the emergence of behaviour’ and on ‘Anatomy, the challenges ahead’ An Anatomical Society Review Lecture was given by Professor Martin Johnson of the University of Cambridge, and a European Federation for Experimental Morphology (EFEM) Lecture by Professor Karl Zilles of the University of Düsseldorf. The following are abstracts of communications and posters presented at the meeting.