FIGURE 5.

Transversal microscopic sections through the rostral part of head in pre- and post-hatching chameleons with skeletal staining. Alcian blue, Green trichrome, and Sirius red staining on transversal sections display contribution of the palatal cartilage process to the secondary palate formation during pre-hatching development (77 and 112 dpo) and in adult chameleon. Palatal cartilage, as a part of the nasal capsule cartilage, penetrates the palatal shelves at their very rostral parts (A,A′-C,C′), then supports the palatal shelves along the mediolateral axis (D,D′–F,F′). Almost at the middle area of the palatine bones along the rostro-caudal axis, only rudiments of this cartilage are visible in the tip of the palatal shelves (G,G–I,I′). Higher power pictures (A′–I′) show details from black rectangles in a lower power pictures (A–I). mx, maxillary bone; nc, nasal cartilage; ne, nasal epithelium; ns, nasal septum; oe, oral epithelium; pl, palatine bone; ps, palatal shelf; v, vomer. Scale bar: 200 μm.