noun
- Plural of patagium; membranous folds of skin stretched between the limbs of certain animals, used for gliding or flight.
Usage: zoology; technical; plural form
Examples
- Flying squirrels use their patagia to glide from tree to tree.
- The patagia of bats are supported by elongated finger bones.
- Pterosaurs possessed patagia that allowed them to achieve powered flight.
- The membrane structures called patagia are stretched between the forelimbs and hind limbs in gliding mammals.