The mammalian palate develops from the primary palate and the secondary palate. Development of the mammalian secondary palate involves highly dynamic morphogenetic processes, including the outgrowth of palatal shelves from the oral side of the embryonic maxillary prominences, the elevation of the initially vertically oriented palatal shelves to the horizontal position above the embryonic tongue, and the subsequent adhesion and fusion of the paired palatal shelves at the midline to separate the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. In addition to identifying a large number of genes required for palate development, recent studies have begun to unravel the extensive cross-regulation of multiple signaling pathways, including sonic hedgehog(Shh), bone morphogenetic protein(BMP), fibroblast growth factor(FGF), transforming growth factor β(TGF-β), and Wnt signaling, during palatal shelf growth and patterning. Here we summarize major recent advances and integrate the genes and molecular pathways with the morhogenetic processes of palate development.