Researchers have described a new species of toad, Duttaphrynus phawngpui, from Phawngpui National Park in southeastern Mizoram, in a study published in May 2026, Mongabay India reports. Two specimens were found among leaf litter on the forest floor beside a trail to the Phawngpui summit, above 2,000 metres, in dense shrubs and bamboo with little human disturbance.
Many Duttaphrynus toads live in varied habitats across South and Southeast Asia, some even in polluted areas, but the new species and its closest relatives, D. stuarti, D. chandai and D. dhara, are largely restricted to the higher ranges of the eastern Himalayas. Body features and DNA analysis separated it from known species.
"They are habitat specific, not generalists," said co-author Jayaditya Purkayastha. The toad lives on the ground and needs grassy patches, high humidity and forest streams for breeding, and it cannot cope with high temperatures. As mountain-top 'sky islands' shrink under climate change and human encroachment, he warned, such species face "dark extinction", the loss of species before they are even discovered.
The surveys were carried out by Mizoram University, Assam Don Bosco University and Help Earth, a Guwahati-based nonprofit that has helped describe more than 38 amphibian and reptile species since 2006. Related toads eat termites, locusts, grasshoppers and other insects, and their parotid glands secrete a toxic fluid that deters predators such as snakes.
Source: Mongabay India
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