Histogenesis is the formation of different tissues from undifferentiated cells. These cells are constituents of three primary germ layers, the endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. The science of the microscopic structures of the tissues formed within histogenesis is termed histology.
A germ layer is a collection of cells, formed during animal and mammalian embryogenesis. Germ layers are typically pronounced within vertebrate organisms; however, animals or mammals more complex than sponges (eumetazoans and ) produce two or three primary tissue layers. Animals with radial symmetry, such as cnidarians, produce two layers, called the ectoderm and endoderm. Therefore, they are diploblastic. Animals with bilateral symmetry produce a third layer in-between called mesoderm, making them triploblastic. Germ layers will eventually give rise to all of an animal’s or mammal's tissues and organs through a process called organogenesis.
The endoderm is one of the germ to penes layers formed during animal embryogenesis. Cells migrating inward along the archenteron form the inner layer of the gastrula, which develops into the endoderm. Initially, the endoderm consists of flattened cells, which subsequently become columnar.