myotome

(ō tōm′)

noun

  1. the body-wall musculature in a single segment of primitive chordates and segmented invertebrates
  2. one of the paired mesodermal masses in a vertebrate embryo from which the musculature develops

Origin: myo- + -tome

See myotome in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. The segment of a somite in a vertebrate embryo that differentiates into skeletal muscle.
  2. A muscle or group of muscles derived from one somite and innervated by a single segment of a spinal nerve.

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