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A cleft separates the outermost cells of the inner cell mass of the blastocyst from the remainder, which then becomes the embryonic disk. The split-off, thin upper layer is the amnion, which remains attached to the periphery of the embryonic disk. As the disk folds into a cylindrical embryo, the amniotic margin follows the underfolding, and its line of union becomes limited to the ventral (frontward) body wall, where the umbilical cord attaches. The amnion becomes a tough, transparent, nonvascular membrane that gradually fills the chorionic sac and then fuses with it. At the end of the third month of ...(100 of 12266 words)