The thyroid gland, which is the largest endocrine organ, secretes primarily thyroid hormones that play a critical role in the normal growth and development of the maturing human. In the adult, thyroid hormones maintain metabolic stability by regulating oxygen requirements, body weight, and intermediary metabolism. Thyroid function is under hypothalamic-pituitary control, and thus, like the gonads and adrenal cortex, it serves as a classical model of endocrine physiology. In addition, the physiological effects of thyroid hormones are regulated by complex extrathyroidal mechanisms resulting from the peripheral metabolism of the hormones, mechanisms that are not under hypothalamic-pituitary regulation. Thyroid function abnormalities are very prevalent, especially in females and in certain geographic areas, and are often a result of autoimmunity or iodine deficiency. The thyroid originates from two distinct parts of the embryonic endoderm: • The follicular structures arise from a midline thickening of the anterior pharyngeal floor (the base of the tongue), adjacent to the differentiating heart. This thyroid diverticulum first expands ventrally while still attached to the pharyngeal floor by its stalk (thyroglossal duct), and then expands laterally, leading to the characteristic bilobed structure. As the developing heart descends, the thyroid gets pulled into its final position, a process that leads to the rapid stretch and degeneration of the thyroglossal duct. • The parafollicular cells are derived from the ultimobranchial bodies (originating from the neural crest) but ultimately are surrounded by the medial thyroid. The parafollicular cells represents <10 % of the adult thyroid gland. The thyroid completes its structural development by 9 weeks of gestation, the first endocrine organ to assume its definitive form during organogenesis; yet full functional maturation and integration with the hypothalamic-pituitary axis continues throughout gestation. Abnormal thyroid development can lead to persistence of the thyroglossal duct, presence of ectopic thyroid tissue (lingual thyroid, lateral aberrant thyroid), and malposition (thoracic goiter), all of which can remain clinically silent or present later in life as diagnostic challenges. The shape of the human thyroid resembles that of a butterfly.