Menu

The neural tube (100X)

Microimage
Image copyright: University of Oslo, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. (Tissue stain: H+E).

The somites  are a set of bilaterally paired blocks of paraxial mesoderm that form in the embryonic stage of somitogenesis, along the head-to-tail axis in segmented animals.

In the developing vertebrate embryo, somites split to form dermatomes, skeletal muscle, tendons and cartilage, and bone.

Published August 20th 2022, updated May 10th 2023.