patagium

American  

[puh-tey-jee-uhm] / pəˈteɪ dʒi əm /

noun

plural

patagia

1. a wing membrane, as of a bat.

2. the extensible fold of skin of certain insects or of a gliding mammal or reptile, as a flying squirrel.

3. either of two small processes on the anterior thorax, found especially among butterflies and moths.

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patagium British  

/ pəˈteɪdʒɪəm /

noun

1. a web of skin between the neck, limbs, and tail in bats and gliding mammals that functions as a wing

2. a membranous fold of skin connecting margins of a bird's wing to the shoulder

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Etymology

Origin of patagium

1820–30; < New Latin, special use of Latin patagium tunic border

Example Sentences

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

But the bird's patagium is unimportant, and the bird's wing is on an evolutionary tack of its own—a fore-limb transformed for bearing the feathers of flight.

From The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) A Plain Story Simply Told by Thomson, J. Arthur