Implantation and early postimplantation development of the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus, Schreber.

The development of the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus is described from implantation to the formation of the foetal membranes. The embryonic development of this species combines features of primitive rodent species, for example Geomys bursarius and highly specialized ones, for examples Mus musculus. The egg-cylinder is formed by invagination into the blastocoelic cavity of the inner cell mass and polar trophoblast overlying it; this resembles in many respects the early stages of development of primitive species. The fully formed egg-cylinder, however, resembles that of the mouse and the formation of foetal membranes is also similar to that in Muridae. It is concluded that in the bank vole and also in other rodents, the extra-embryonic ectoderm of the egg-cylinder is derived from the polar trophoblast rather than from the inner cell mass.