Cheek Pouches

saclike dilatations of the vestibule of the oral cavity in some marsupials, many rodents, and the majority of catarrhine monkeys; they serve for the temporary storage of food, which enters the cheek pouches from the oral cavity.

Cheek pouches are usually found in the neck region; if they are very highly developed they extend to the shoulders (in hamsters). Pocket gophers have so-called false cheek pouches outside the oral cavity that are in fact in-pouchings of the skin. Their inner surface is covered with hairs. They open outward along the corners of the mouth; the animals fill them with food, using their paws.