patagium
Americannoun
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patagia
plural
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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:
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
To better understand patagium evolution, the team focused on marsupials.
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 J. Arthur Thomson
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
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
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
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