The outermost of the several extraembryonic membranes in amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) enclosing the embryo and all of its other membranes. The chorion, or serosa, is composed of an outer layer of ectodermal cells and an inner layer of mesodermal cells, collectively the somatopleure. Both layers are continuous with the corresponding tissue of the embryo. The chorion arises in conjunction with the amnion, another membrane that forms the outer limb of the somatopleure which folds up over the embryo in reptiles, birds, and some mammals. The chorion is separated from the amnion and yolk sac by a fluid-filled space, the extraembryonic coelom, or body cavity. In those mammals in which the amnion forms by a process of cavitation in a mass of cells, instead of by folding, the chorion forms directly from the trophoblastic capsule, the extraembryonic ectoderm, which becomes gradually underlain by extraembryonic mesoderm.