Our sharp-eyed guide parted tree fronds to reveal a drowsy kingfisher, tugged an iguana away from its midnight snack and borrowed a red-eyed treefrog from a banana patch.
Dr Federle and his colleagues argue that the complex arrangement of pegs and channels around the hexagonal cells has evolved to drain the mucus rapidly away from the toe pads, allowing the treefrog to grip.
According to Professor Win Vandebergh and his colleagues at the University of Brussels, the cytoskeletal proteins that evolved to help the treefrog Hyla cinera cling to wet surfaces in its niche environment also passed down to mammals and eventually to us.