How do Tree Frogs Climb?
January 10th, 2009
A recent study led by Biologist Jon Barnes of the University of Glasgow in Scotland contrasted the differences in how geckos and tree frogs were able to scale surfaces so easily. It provides some detailed answers to the classic question, “how do tree frogs climb like that?”
They concluded that why the gecko uses a dry grip that creates a molecular bond between its toe pads and the surface being climbed, a tree frog uses nanopillars, which creates a wet grip with the surface being climbed.
Barnes and his team studied the feet of White’s Tree Frogs with an atomic force microscope to better understand how this is being done.
