BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY:

VERTEBRATE EMBRYOLOGY
LABORATORY EXERCISE WEEK
EXTRAEMBRYONIC
9 11
MEMBRANES

• At the end of this exercise, each student must be able to:

o describe the HISTOLOGIC features of placental tissue and fetal
membranes
o relate the histological features of the placenta with exchange of gases
and nutrients between mother and fetus
o compare the placenta found in different mammals

INSTRUCTIONS
• Study the structure of the extraembryonic membranes especially the placenta
• Accomplish Lab Report # 9

MATERIALS
o Compound light microscope
o Prepared slides of placenta
o colored pencils, crayons and pens

INTRODUCTION
The embryos of reptiles, birds, and mammals produce 4 extraembryonic membranes - amnion, yolk
sac, chorion and allantois. In birds and most reptiles, the embryo with its extraembryonic membranes
develops within a shelled egg.

• The amnion protects the embryo in a sac filled with amniotic fluid.
 • The yolk sac contains yolk — the sole source of food until hatching. Yolk is a mixture of
proteins and lipoproteins.
• The chorion lines the inner surface of the shell (which is permeable to gases) and participates
in the exchange of O2 and CO2 between the embryo and the outside air.
• The allantois stores metabolic wastes (chiefly uric acid) of the embryo and, as it grows larger,
also participates in gas exchange.

With these four membranes, the developing embryo is able to carry on essential metabolism while
sealed within the egg. Surrounded by amniotic fluid, the embryo is kept as moist as a fish embryo in a
pond. Although (most) mammals do not make a shelled egg, they do also enclose their embryo in an
amnion. For this reason, the reptiles, birds, and mammals are collectively referred to as the amniota.

AMNIOTIC EGG GROUPS IN MAMMALS

Mammals fall into three groups that differ in the way they use the amniotic egg.

• Monotremes

These primitive mammals produce a shelled egg like their reptilian ancestors. Only four species
exist today: three species of spiny anteater (echidna) and the duckbill platypus.

• Marsupials

Marsupials do not produce a shelled egg. The egg, which is poorly supplied with yolk, is retained
for a time within the reproductive tract of the mother. The embryo penetrates the wall of
the uterus. The yolk sac provides a rudimentary connection to the mother's blood supply from
which it receives food, oxygen, and other essentials. However, this interface between the tissues
of the uterus and the extraembryonic membranes never becomes elaborately developed, and the
young are born in a very immature state.

• Placental mammals
In placental mammals, the extraembryonic membranes form a placenta and umbilical cord,
which connect the embryo to the mother's uterus in a more elaborate and efficient way. The
blood supply of the developing fetus is continuous with that of the placenta. The placenta
extracts food and oxygen from the uterus. Carbon dioxide and other wastes (e.g., urea) are
transferred to the mother for disposal by her excretory organs.

Humans are placental mammals.

PLACENTA

The placenta is composed of fetal parts and maternal parts. The fetal parts appear in the form of ringer-
like projections termed the chorionic villi. Note that in the specimen, they appear as small circular
structures composed of embryonal connective tissue containing embryonic blood vessels and
connective tissue cells.
In younger placenta, the thorium of the villi is composed of outer syncytial layer with flattened nuclei (
syncytiotrophoblast ) and inner cellular layer of simple cuboidal cells ( cytotrophoblast ) with larger paler
cells with indistinct boundaries.

In older placenta, the cytotrophoblast has disappeared and the villi are covered by
syncytiotrophoblast.

The maternal parts of the placenta has bigger acid staining structures which are parts of the mucosa of
the uterus. Look for blood vessels, connective tissue cells (Hofbauer cells). Near the surface of the
specimen, look for numerous groups of multinucleated giant connective tissue cells called the decidua
cells. Endometrial glands are also present.

Retrieved from:
15.7E: Extraembryonic membranes and the physiology of the placenta. (2020, December 31).
BiologyLibreTexts. https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_Biology_(
Kimball)/15%3A_The_Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals/15.07%3A_Sexual_Reproduction/15.7E%3
A_Extraembryonic_Membranes_and_the_Physiology_of_the_Placenta
 VERTEBRATE EMBRYOLOGY
Lab Report # 9: EXTRAEMBRYONIC MEMBRANES

NAME:___________________________________ Date: ____________

Year and Section:___________________________

I. Draw and label or attach the microscopic appearance of the placenta.

Label the following structures.
CHORIONIC plate decidua basalis
chorion frondosum maternal blood vessels
trophoblast uterine glands
anchoring villi myometrium
floating villi
intervillous blood spaces
CHORIONIC villi and identify the following:
syncytial trophoblast
cytotrophoblast
embryonic connective tissue
fetal blood vessels
intervillous spaces

II. Answer the following;

1. What hormones are produced by the placenta? Give their functions.
2. What are decidua cells?
3. What is the function of the placenta?
4. Explain why there is no mixture of maternal and fetal blood in the placenta.
5. Give the composition of the placental barrier.

III.
1. What are the different kinds of placenta?
2. Construct a table differentiating the kinds of placenta found in mammals.
3. Give examples of mammals exhibiting the different kinds of placenta.