A suprabasal cell population which together with the feather follicle placode develops into the feather follicle.
Comment:
[taxon-note] "The development of placodes where dermal condensations occur, an evolutionary novelty, required changes in gene expression and timing. However, such changes are known to be an important mechanism in the origin of morphological innovations in many other organisms (True and Carroll 2002, Prum 2005)"