2 post-fertilization, and they undergo neurulation up to day 5. Reptiles, including crocodiles, lizards, and turtles, tend to spend a longer time in the neurula stage. A typical frog embryo, incubated at 18 °C, is an early stage neurula by 50 hours post-fertilization and a late stage neurula by 67 hours. The mouse embryo begins neurulation on day 7.5 of gestation and remains in the neurula stage until day 9. Morphology The mesoderm of a vertebrate embryo in the neurula stage can be divided into five regions. Ventral to the neural tube is the chordamesoderm. Lateral to either side of the neural tube is the paraxial mesoderm, while the intermediate lateral region to the neural tube is the intermediate mesoderm. The fourth region is the lateral plate mesoderm, and the last region is the head mesenchym. Anterior portions of the mesoderm develop into rostral regions of an organism, such as the head, while posterior mesoderm develops into caudal regions, such as the trunk or tail. The paraxial mesoderm, also termed somitic mesoderm, develops into somites, blocks of tissue that occur in a segmental pattern. Somites, in turn, give rise to vertebrae, ribs, skeletal muscle, cartilage, tendons, and skin. In Xenopus laevis, the transition from the gastrula to the neurula involves morphological changes in two regions surrounding the blastopore: the dorsal involuting marginal zone (IMZ) and the overlying non-involuting marginal zone (NIMZ) of the gastrula. Following involution at the mid-gastrula stage, the IMZ undergoes convergent extension, in which the lateral regions narrow and move towards the midline and the anterior end lengthens. This has the effect of narrowing the blastopore. The NIMZ, which does not involute, simultaneously extends in the opposite direction and at a greater rate to cover regions no longer occupied by the IMZ. The convergent extension of the IMZ and NIMZ begins in the second half of gastrulation and continues into the late neurula stage. Eventually, deep tissue of the IMZ forms the central notochord and the surrounding paraxial mesoderm. By the early neurula stage, the notochord is clearly distinguished. Notochordal cells become arranged in a formation representing a stack of coins in a process termed circumferential intercalation. The superficial layer of the IMZ develops into the roof of the archenteron, or the primitive gut, while the underlying endoderm forms the archenteron floor. The NIMZ develops into a structure resembling the early neural tube. The outer ectodermal layer