Fig. 7. (A) Ultrastructure of hatchling skin, sampled on the day of hatching and before the first ecdysis, showing mesos (m), (a) and ß (b) layers above the germinative layer (g, granular layer). Inset shows semi-thick plastic section (0.5-1 µm) of the same. (B) Post-shed skin sampled 2 days after the first ecdysis shows increased thickness in all three layers at the same magnification as in A. Note the near doubling of cells in the mesos layer. The germinative layer appears more compact compared to A. Inset shows light microscopic features of the post-shed skin in semi-thick plastic section (0.5-1 µm). The gaps in mesos layers seen in the micrographs are artifacts in tissue preparation (OsO₄ post-fixation). Scale bars, 1.0 µm; in insets, 0.1 µm.

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