Guwahati: A tiny frog discovered in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh has surprised scientists with an unusual dietary habit — it eats land snails whole. The discovery marks the first documented record of snail-eating in a frog in India and the first such report for the entire Asian horned frog family, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Delhi and Harvard University.
The Snail-eating Horned Frog (Jingophrys tanogogo) is among five new frog species identified by the team following five years of field explorations across Northeast India.
The researchers discovered entire land snail shells inside the frog’s gut, a finding established through advanced three-dimensional micro-CT imaging of specimens. The species has been named ‘tanogogo’, the Apatani word for snails, reflecting the language of the community in whose region it was discovered.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Royal Society Open Science, also documents two new country records for India and several unidentified populations that researchers believe could represent additional new species.
All five newly identified species belong to the genus Jingophrys, commonly known as Diminutive Horned Frogs, and were discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.
Besides the Snail-eating Horned Frog, the discoveries include the Tanii Horned Frog (Jingophrys taniitatii), named after the Tanii tribe of Arunachal Pradesh and the Apatani language spoken in the Ziro Valley.
The name combines ‘tanii’, referring to the community, and ‘tatii’, the local word for frogs and toads.
Researchers acknowledged the support and guidance of local tribal communities during their field investigations.
Another species, the Siang Horned Frog (Jingophrys siangensis), has been named after the Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh.
The remaining two species, Jingophrys hrdy and Jingophrys wularsoni, honour long-time supporters of herpetological field research and conservation biology at Harvard University.
The identification of the five species was established through multiple scientific approaches, including DNA-based molecular analysis, detailed examination of their physical characteristics and distinctive mating calls produced by male frogs to communicate with females.
The discoveries have significantly expanded scientific understanding of the genus. The number of Diminutive Horned Frog species recorded in India has increased seven-fold, while the known diversity of Jingophrys has more than doubled.
The genus is a poorly studied group found across a relatively small geographical area encompassing Northeast India and southern China. It belongs to the larger family Megophryidae, commonly known as Asian Horned Frogs, which is widely distributed across Asia.
The findings also highlight the Eastern Himalayas as an important centre of amphibian diversity, challenging the earlier understanding of Northeast India largely as a geographical gateway for the movement of wildlife between the Indian subcontinent and mainland Asia.
DNA-based evolutionary analyses suggest that horned frogs underwent rapid diversification in the Eastern Himalayas over millions of years. The researchers found that these evolutionary developments coincided with the active rise of the Himalayan mountain ranges and the formation and intensification of the South Asian monsoon system.
These geological and climatic changes played an important role in shaping the region’s present-day plant and animal diversity.
Sonali Garg, who led the research as a Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, said the findings demonstrate how species diversity and evolutionary processes can remain overlooked in poorly studied groups of organisms without dedicated scientific investigations.
The study also draws attention to the importance of combining field-based research with advanced laboratory techniques to document biodiversity in understudied regions of tropical Asia.
S D Biju, Senior Professor at the University of Delhi and a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University during the study, said Arunachal Pradesh remained a poorly explored region with considerable endemic frog diversity.
Some of the newly identified species are extremely secretive and inhabit remote forests, appearing only during a short breeding season, he said.
The researchers said further investigations would be needed to understand the biology and conservation requirements of the newly discovered species.
The findings reinforce the importance of protecting the Eastern Himalayan forests, which continue to reveal previously undocumented biodiversity.
The research paper, titled Two-fold hidden diversity of diminutive horned frogs (Megophryinae: Jingophrys) highlights overlooked in situ diversification in the Himalayas, was authored by Sonali Garg, S D Biju, Tage Tajo, Radhakrishna Upadhyaya K and James Hanken.