In amniote embryonic development, the epiblast (also known as the primitive ectoderm) is one of two distinct cell layers arising from the inner cell mass in the mammalian blastocyst, or from the blastula in reptiles and birds. It drives the embryo proper through its differentiation into the three primary germ layers, ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm, during gastrulation. The amniotic ectoderm and extraembryonic mesoderm also originate from the epiblast.

The other layer of the inner cell mass, the hypoblast, gives rise to the yolk sac. The layer surrounding the inner cell mass, the trophectoderm, gives rise to the chorion.

The epiblast was first discovered by Christian Heinrich Pander (1794-1865), a Baltic German biologist and embryologist. With the help of anatomist Ignaz Döllinger (1770–1841) and draftsman Eduard Joseph d'Alton (1772-1840), Pander observed thousands of chicken eggs under a microscope, and ultimately discovered and described the chicken blastoderm and its structures, including the epiblast. He published these findings in Beiträge zur Entwickelungsgeschichte des Hühnchens im Eye. Other early embryologists that studied the epiblast and blastoderm include Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876) and Wilhelm His (1831-1904).

In mammalian embryogenesis, differentiation and segregation of cells composing the inner cell mass of the blastocyst yields two distinct layers—the epiblast ("primitive ectoderm") and the hypoblast ("primitive endoderm"). While the cuboidal hypoblast cells delaminate ventrally, away from the embryonic pole, to line the blastocoele, the remaining cells of the inner cell mass, situated between the hypoblast and the polar trophoblast, become the epiblast and comprise columnar cells.

In the mouse, primordial germ cells are specified from epiblast cells. This specification is accompanied by extensive epigenetic reprogramming that involves global DNA demethylation, chromatin reorganization and imprint erasure leading to totipotency. The DNA base excision repair pathway has a central role in the process of genome-wide demethylation.

Upon commencement of gastrulation, the primitive streak, a visible, morphological linear band of cells, appears on the posterior epiblast and orients along the anterior-posterior embryo axis. Initiated by signals from the underlying hypoblast, formation of the primitive streak is predicated on epiblast cell migration, mediated by Nodal, from the lateral-posterior regions of the epiblast to the center midline. The primitive node is situated at the anterior end of the primitive streak and serves as the organizer for gastrulation, determining epiblast cell fate by inducing the differentiation of migrating epiblast cells during gastrulation.

During gastrulation, migrating epiblast cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition in order to lose cell-cell adhesion (E-cadherin), delaminate from the epiblast layer and migrate over the dorsal surface of the epiblast then down through the primitive streak. The first wave of epiblast cells to invaginate through the primitive streak invades and displaces the hypoblast to become the embryonic endoderm. The mesoderm layer is established next as migrating epiblast cells move through the primitive streak then spread out within the space between the endoderm and remaining epiblast, which once the mesoderm layer has formed ultimately becomes the definitive ectoderm. The process of gastrulation results in a trilaminar germ disc, consisting of the ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm layers.

Epiblasts exhibit diverse structure across species as a result of early embryo morphogenesis. The human epiblast assumes a disc shape, conforming to the embryonic disc morphology; whereas, the mouse epiblast develops in a cup shape within the cylindrical embryo.