How do frogs cling to surfaces even with wet feet? This has always remained a mystery. It is only recently that scientists found that tree frogs has toe pads covered in tiny bumps, and this can directly touch a surface creating friction. This direct contact occurs even when a film of watery mucus covers the pads.
Previously, it was thought that the viscosity of the watery mucus film could be responsible for wet adhesion tht helps it clinging to a surface, unless it is proved recently that some other force may be responsible.
Apart from solving the eon mysyery, this discovery has proved groundbreaking as this concept can be used to develop anti-slip devices. Dr Jon Barnes, an author on the paper and a zoologist from Glasgow University explained, The toe pads are patterned with a fine structure of hexagonal cells with channels running between them… imagines if you are sticking to a leaf, that each cell, even if it is separate from the other cells, can form its own closest orientation.
Via: BBC News