label: prechordal plate
label_lc: prechordal plate
description: "A horseshoe-shaped thickening of the endoderm at the cranial (rostral) end of the primitive streak formed by the involution of Spemann's organizer cells which, together with the notochord, induces the formation of the neural plate from the overlying ectodermal cells and contributes mesodermal type cells to the surrounding tissue."