The skew-normal distribution and related multivariate families

This paper provides an introductory overview of a portion of distribution theory which is currently under intense development. The starting point of this topic has been the so-called skew-normal distribution, but the connected area is becoming increasingly broad, and its branches include now many extensions, such as the skew-elliptical families, and some forms of semi-parametric formulations, extending the relevance of the field much beyond the original theme of 'skewness'. The final part of the paper illustrates connections with various areas of application, including selective sampling, models for compositional data, robust methods, some problems in econometrics, non-linear time series, especially in connection with financial data, and more.