Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Hensen’s node
References
Britannica AI Icon

Hensen’s node

biology
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Hensen's node is a thickened mass of cells found in avian and mammalian embryos. It is located at the anterior end of the primitive streak, which is a key structure in early embryonic development. During gastrulation, cells migrate through the primitive streak to form the three germinal layers: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Hensen's node plays a role in this process, particularly in the formation of the notochord and chordamesoderm. Viktor Hensen, a biologist, documented this structure and also worked on the anatomy and physiology of sense organs.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. Viktor Hensen: Top Questions
  2. animal development - Reptiles , birds , and mammals

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.