Pristionchus pacificus is a nematode (roundworm) in the family Diplogastridae. Its last common ancestor with Caenorhabditis elegans lived 200-300 Mio years ago. Pristionchus pacificus was described as a novel species in 1996 and fulfills many technical requirements for detailed genetic and molecular studies. Over the years, we have generated a genetic, molecular and genomic toolkit that establishes P. pacificus as a major satellite system for evolutionary developmental biology.