TYPES OF COVERING EPITHELIA
There are several types of covering or lining epithelia. The criteria for their classification are:
- amount of their cell layers.
- shape of their cells.
If the epithelium is formed by only one layer of cells, the epithelium is classified as a simple epithelium. If it has more than one layer, the epithelium is called stratified epithelium.
However, the classification of some types of epithelium escapes these two categories. More details in the following pages.
The shape of cells criterion is applied in two ways:
a) simple epithelium, having only one layer of cells, the shape the cells of this layer is applied.
b) stratified epithelium, the shape of the cells of the outermost layer (furthest from the connective tissue) is applied.
It may seem complicated, but it is quite simple. Beginning on the next page the various types of lining epithelia will be presented.