a, Strategy to measure traction stresses in vivo. b, Representative force curve of BM stiffness measurement by AFM. Fit of the first 200 nm after the contact point at 0 μm to the Hertz model is indicated in cyan. Only the approach part of the force curve is shown. c, Quantification of the BM stiffness with and without Collagenase treatment. N = number of embryos, n = number of recorded approach curves. Individual data points, means, and SD are indicated ****: p<0.0001 (two-tailed Mann-Whitney test). d, Maximum-projected z-stack (Video 8). Scale bar = 25 μm. e, BM displacement by the primordium (grey) shown as a vector field along the X-, Y- and Z-axes (Video 10). The displacement vector magnitude is indicated as a color map. XY-view is shown from the basal side of the primordium. s: skin, m: muscle. Scale bar = 25 μm. f, BM displacement in the XY-plane by the primordium (grey) shown as a vector field (Video 10). Displacement field in the XY-plane is shown from the basal side of the primordium. Scale bar = 25 μm. Bottom panel is a magnification of the outlined region in top panel. Scale bars = 25 μm (top) and 5 μm (bottom), arrow = 50 μm (top) and 10 μm (bottom). g, Traction stress magnitudes on the BM indicated as color map (Video 10). Scale bar = 25 μm. h, Schematic of the approach to quantify the traction stresses and BM displacement vector direction. i, BM displacement vector angles with respect to the migration direction (0°). Mean, 25th–75th percentiles (box), and min/max (whiskers) are indicated N = number of embryos, n = number of bleached cylinders. ****: p<0.0001 and n.s.: p=0.6291. j, Pooled traction stresses exerted by the primordium on the BM. Magnitude in XY-plane (left) and along the Z-axis (right) with median (dashed line) and quartile (dotted line) are shown. *: p=0.0302, ****: p<0.0001, n.s.: p=0.2273 (two-tailed Mann-Whitney test). N = number of embryos, n = number of bleached cylinders analyzed. For c, i, j, n was used for statistical tests.