The larval patterns of marine invertebrates pose intriguing questions for both evolutionary and developmental biologists. However, combined investigations have been rare. Quantitative models analyze the selective factors that drive evolutionary change in larval nutrition and timing of metamorphosis. Developmental studies describe the morphogenesis characterizing ancestral and derived larval patterns. Rigorous evolutionary analysis of the transition to derived modes of development is lacking and detailed developmental and ecological data are needed to test and refine theoretical models. A major challenge facing studies of life cycle evolution is the elucidation of the genetic structure and covariance of important developmental and larval traits.