Abstract
IN a recent publication1, attention has been directed to the occurrence of a peculiar modification of the outer layer of the ectoderm of the chorion (and choriogenous ectoderm) of Sphenodon (Reptilia, Rhynchocephalia) to produce very large cells with well-marked boundaries, domed free edges and large nuclei. These modified cells show particularly clearly in preparations stained with borax carmine, in which the cells tend to assume a characteristic yellow–orange colour. These cells were first observed by Dendy2 and Schauinsland3, who were working independently on the embryology of Sphenodon. They applied the term ‘teloderm’ to the tissue, a term previously used by Mehnert4 to describe tissue to which the term ‘epitrichial layer’ more properly applies5.
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References
Fisk, A., and Tribe, M., Proc. Zool. Soc. Land., 119, Pt. 1 (1949).
Dendy, A., Quart. J. Microscop. Sci., 42, 1 (1899).
Schauinsland, H., Anat. Anz., 15 (1899).
Mehnert, E., Morph. Arb., 4 (1895).
Kerbert, C., Arch. mikro. Anat., 13 (1876).
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FISK, A. Modification of the Ectoderm in Sphenodon. Nature 164, 617–618 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/164617b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/164617b0
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