Researchers at UCLA, led by neurobiologist Duncan Leitch, have shown that the Surinam toad – also called the star‑fingered toad – detects prey using highly sensitive lobes on its fingertips. The findings were published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

Each fingertip of the Surinam toad bears 128 tiny lobes covered in dense papillae. Though they cover only about 8 % of the front‑leg skin, they house roughly 60 % of the touch‑sensitive nerves.

These lobes act like a miniature fovea, picking up the slightest water ripples caused by nearby fish or worms. When a prey item passes within about 0.5‑1 cm, the toad launches a rapid, ballistic suction that pulls the animal into its mouth without any direct contact.

A disproportionately large part of the toad’s brain is devoted to processing the signals from these fingertips, a pattern that mirrors the sensory specialization seen in the star‑nosed mole. Leitch explained that, despite the toad’s small brain, the mid‑brain region has been repurposed to handle this intense sensory load.

According to senior manager Lea Randall of the Wilder Institute, the discovery highlights convergent evolution: both amphibians and mammals, separated by over 350 million years, arrived at the same solution—allocating many receptors and brain resources to a tiny, information‑rich body part.