adhesive pad

References

Images

Illustration of the underside of a fan-footed gecko's foot (Ptyodactylus), showing five splayed toes, each ending in wide, fan-shaped pads with fine ridges for gripping surfaces.

adhesive pad

anatomy

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Learn about this topic in these articles:

gecko
The pads of their long toes are covered with small plates that are in turn covered with numerous tiny hairlike processes that are forked at the end. These microscopic hooks cling to small surface irregularities, enabling geckos to climb smooth and vertical surfaces and even to…
Read More
The pads of their long toes are covered with small plates that are in turn covered with numerous tiny hairlike processes that are forked at the end. These microscopic hooks cling to small surface irregularities, enabling geckos to climb smooth and vertical surfaces and even to…
Read More

tarsier
…which are expanded into disklike adhesive pads. Tarsiers move through the forest by launching themselves from trunk to trunk propelled by their greatly elongated hind limbs.
Read More
…which are expanded into disklike adhesive pads. Tarsiers move through the forest by launching themselves from trunk to trunk propelled by their greatly elongated hind limbs.
Read More