This is the only Pipa toad to occur in North America. With its warty, filamented skin and flat, sunken body, it has the uncanny ability to look almost putrefied even when at the peak of good health. One bizarre adaptation is the tactile organs or lobes present on the fingertips, which are used to explore the surrounding water and mud for aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans and fish. Unusually, Surinam toads cannot assume the "standard" terrestrial-frog posture, with the forelimbs holding the body up slightly and their legs folded either side of their abdomen. Their resting position is instead characterised by their arms and legs splaying outwards in line with their flattened body.