to the paraxial fate, meaning that fate determination is tightly controlled by local signals and is not predetermined. For instance, exposure of pre-somitic mesoderm to Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) ventralizes the tissue, however in vivo, BMP antagonists secreted by the organizer (such as Noggin and chordin) prevent this and thus promote the formation of dorsal structures. Termination of somitogenesis It is currently unknown by what particular mechanism somitogenesis is terminated. One proposed mechanism is massive cell death in the posteriormost cells of the paraxial mesoderm so that this region is prevented from forming somites. Others have suggested that the inhibition of BMP signaling by Noggin, a Wnt target gene, suppresses the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition necessary for the splitting off of somites from the bands of pre-somitic mesoderm and thus terminates somitogenesis. Although endogenous retinoic acid is required in higher vertebrates to limit the caudal Fgf8 domain needed for somitogenesis in the trunk (but not tail), some studies also point to a possible role of retinoic acid in ending somitogenesis in vertebrates that lack a tail (human) or have a short tail (chick). Other studies suggest termination may be due to an imbalance between the speed of somite formation and growth of the pre-somitic mesoderm extending into this tail region. Somitogenesis in different species Different species have different numbers of somites. For example, frogs have approximately 10, humans have 37, chicks have 50, mice have 65, and snakes have more than 300, up to about 500. Somite number is unaffected by changes in the size of the embryo through experimental procedure. Because all developing embryos of a particular species form the same number of somites, the number of somites present is typically used as a reference for age in developing vertebrates. References Embryology