The early neurogenesis of rat neocortex was analysed by means of light and electron microscopic autoradiography. It was found that the very first preneurons originate probably as early as ED 11. They are the horizontal cells of Cajal-Retzius. The peak of their formation is on ED 13 (surface index estimated on ED 17 after injection of 3H-thymidine on ED 13:21, after injection on ED 12:4, after injection on ED 15:5), WHereas no Cajal-Retzius cells could be found to have originated after ED 15. Theses cells are the developmentally most advanced of the neocortex. The cells second in date of origin and maturation are preneurons which presumably correspond to the presumptive neurons of Layer VII (VI b), and begin to originate on ED 12. The end of their formation could not be defined owing to a lack of ultrastructural differences to other, younger preneurons in later gestational stages. These two cell types are the first cellular components of the primordial plexiform layer (Marin-Padilla, 1978) or pallial anlage (Rickmann, 1977), demonstrating an outside-in gradient within this layer, and are separated by the formation of the cortical plate. This could be proven by their simultaneous labelling above and below the cortical plate after administration of 3H-thymidine before ED 15. These results confirm the hypothesis of a dual origin of the mammalian neocortex (Marin-Padilla, 1978).