Salamanders fill their toes with blood to release sticky grip



The translucent toes of a wandering salamander
William P. Goldenberg
How salamanders manage to move around on uneven, vertical tree surfaces with such dexterity has long baffled scientists. A new discovery suggests they use a trick out of a horror movie: filling their toes with pools of blood.
While Christian Brown at Washington State University was observing wandering salamanders (Aneides vagrans) through a close-up camera in 2021 in a coastal redwood forest, he noticed blood moving in a rhythmic pattern under their translucent skin. Before lifting their foot to take a step, blood inundated the tips of the salamanders’…
You Might Also Like
X-ray boosting fabric could make mammograms less painful
Mammograms can be painful, but they may not need to beDaria Artemenko/Alamy Getting an X-ray can be uncomfortable – you...
Women’s pelvises are shrinking – how is that changing childbirth?
Medical advances have changed childbirth – potentially enough to impact human evolutionFatCamera/Getty Images Women’s pelvises have become narrower over the...
Sea spiders ‘farm’ methane-eating bacteria on their bodies
Sea spider from the genus SericosuraBiance Dal Bó Spider-like creatures living near methane seeps on the seafloor appear to cultivate...
28 Years Later review: Danny Boyle’s long-awaited zombie sequel is a triumph
An infected in 28 Years LaterMiya Mizuno/Sony 28 Years Later Directed by Danny Boyle, written by Alex Garland In cinemas...