The feet of tree frogs are sticky enough to hold on to a variety of surfaces. So what? We have our conventional tape for several different surfaces as well. The everyday tape cracks when pulled out. Frog’s feet however do not get pulled off so easily, and happily for the frog, do not lose their stickiness. This is in part due to the microstructure of the foot.
Here’s a good close-up of the foot of the Trinidadian Tree Frog Phyllomedusa trinitatis, taken in Trinidad, West Indies
http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/imagebank/uploaded_images/VictoriaOgilvy_PhyllomedusaTrinitatis.jpg
Photograph Credit: Vicky Ogilvy, Centre for Bioscience ImageBank
The toes of tree frogs contain microscopic patterns that prevent cracking. Such a tape, that captures the physics of sticky feet has been developed by Indian researchers. Researchers led by Abhijit Majumder at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, studied the toe pads of tree frogs to figure out what makes them stick to surfaces, and copied the idea. Its strong and resusable. Its more than 30 times more adhesive as well. This is another example of scientists taking a cue from nature.
