Connective tissues are classified into three major groups which are: embryonic connective tissue, adult connective,

and special connective tissue. Embryonic connective tissue is a loose tissue formed during early embryonic development that was found primarily in the umbilical cord. Adult connective tissue has considerable structural diversity because of proportion of cells to fibers and of and of ground substance varies from tissue to tissue. There are two sub classifications of this type of connective tissue. Those are loose connective tissue that contains more cells than collagen fibers and dense connective tissue that contains more collagen fibers than cells. There are three main types of loose connective tissue: Collagenous fibers are made of collagen and consist of bundles of fibrils that are coils of collagen molecules, Elastic fibers are made of elastin and are stretchable, and Reticular fibers join connective tissues to other tissues. On the other hand, special connective tissue, comprises types of connective tissue with specialized properties not observed in the embryonic connective tissue or in the adult connective tissue proper. There are four types of specialized connective tissue ans those are: Adipose, Cartilage, Bone , and Blood. Adipose tissue is a form of loose connective tissue that stores fat. Cartilage is a form of fibrous connective tissue that is composed of closely packed collagenous fibers in a rubbery gelatinous substance called chondrin. Bone is a type of mineralized connective tissue that contains collagen and calcium phosphate, a mineral crystal. Interestingly enough, blood is considered to be a type of connective tissue.

Kierszenbaum, A.( 2002). Histology and Cell Biology. Connective Tissues. Philadelphia, USA: Mosby Inc. page95