Endoderm, the innermost of the three germ layers, or masses of cells (lying

within ectoderm and mesoderm), which appears early in the development of

an animal embryo. The endoderm subsequently gives rise to
the epithelium (tissue that covers, or lines, a structure) of the pharynx,
including the eustachian tube, the tonsils, the thyroid gland, parathyroid
glands, and thymus gland; the larynx, trachea, and lungs; the gastrointestinal
tract (except mouth and anus), the urinary bladder, the vagina (in females),
and the urethra. The term endoderm is sometimes used to refer to
the gastrodermis, the simple tissue that lines the digestive cavity of cnidarians
and ctenophores. 

The endoderm consists at first of flattened cells, which subsequently become columnar. It forms
the epithelial lining of multiple systems.

The endoderm is one of the germ layers formed during animal embryonic development.

Cells migrating inward along the archenteron form the inner layer of the gastrula, which
develops into the endoderm.
The endoderm consists at first of flattened cells, which subsequently become columnar.
It forms the epithelial lining of the whole of the digestive tract except part of the mouth
and pharynx and the terminal part of the rectum (which are lined by involutions of the
ectoderm). It also forms the lining cells of all the glands which open into the digestive
tract, including those of the liver and pancreas; the epithelium of the auditory tube and
tympanic cavity; the trachea, bronchi, and alveoli of the lungs; the bladder and part of
the urethra; and the follicle lining of the thyroid gland and thymus.
The endoderm forms: the pharynx, the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestine,
the colon, the liver, the pancreas, the bladder, the epithelial parts of the trachea and bronchi,
the lungs, the thyroid, and the parathyroid.