Duncan Leitch

Stories

Suriname toad hunts with hypersensitive star-shaped fingertips

As of October 2026: Active researcher; led the study published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A

The Suriname toad is flat, tongueless, and nearly blind in murky water. Yet it captures fish with 87% accuracy even in total darkness.

Updated Oct 1

Notable Quotes

If a fish passes within about half a centimetre to a centimetre of these frogs, the frogs will launch into this ballistic suction feeding and then completely suck fish or worms or anything that is moving and excites the finger tips.

from Suriname toad hunts with hypersensitive star-shaped fingertips · Updated Oct 1

It seems that mammals share some of these sensory processing properties with frogs, from whom they diverged [over 350 million years ago].

from Suriname toad hunts with hypersensitive star-shaped fingertips · Updated Oct 1