nephrotome /nef″rətom/ [Gk, nephros + tome, section] , a zone of segmented mesodermal tissue in the developing vertebrate embryo lying along each side of the body dorsal to the abdominal cavity between the somite-forming dorsal mesoderm and the unsegmented lateral plate mesoderm. It is the primordial tissue for the urogenital system and gives rise to the nephrogenic cord. Also called intermediate cell mass, intermediate mesoderm, middle plate, nephromere. See also mesonephros, metanephros, pronephros.
