patagium
Americannoun
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a wing membrane, as of a bat.
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the extensible fold of skin of certain insects or of a gliding mammal or reptile, as a flying squirrel.
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either of two small processes on the anterior thorax, found especially among butterflies and moths.
noun
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a web of skin between the neck, limbs, and tail in bats and gliding mammals that functions as a wing
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a membranous fold of skin connecting margins of a bird's wing to the shoulder
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of patagium
1820–30; < New Latin, special use of Latin patagium tunic border
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To better understand patagium evolution, the team focused on marsupials.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
The researchers showed that Emx2 gives rise to the marsupial patagium using a genetic program that probably exists in all mammals.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
And the plagiopatagium, a specific patagium that connects the side of the body to the arms and legs, is among the most important.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 1, 2023
They have a big patagium, the parachute-like membrane that stretches from ankles to wrists.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
Tibiae, feet and the femoral patagium reddish marbled with white.
From A New Name for the Mexican Red Bat by Hall, E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond)
Used to commute and escape predators, patagia also help male flying dragons reptiles show off to females during courtship displays.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 7, 2024
Each of the 50 known flying dragon species has patagia with different hues and patterns.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 7, 2024
Flying dragons glide through the treetops using their colorful patagia, wing-like structures supported by their ribs, says Jim McGuire a flying lizard specialist at the University of California at Berkeley.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 7, 2024
Bats have done something no other mammal ever has: the leathery-winged beasts evolved powered flight thanks to specialized membranes called patagia connecting their limbs and digits to the rest of their body.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 1, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
