The neural crest is a population of stem cells that arises from the central nervous system during vertebrate embryonic development. Once specified, neural crest cells migrate extensively and give rise to a plethora of tissue and cell types. We use comparative molecular analyses and embryonic cell lineage tracing to resolve the fate of neural crest cells across jawed vertebrates, with a particular focus on their skeletal and sympathoadrenal derivatives. This allows us to reconstruct the early evolution of neural crest cell developmental potential, and to understand how the evolution of neural crest cell derivatives relates to evolution of the vertebrate body plan.