Limnonectes motijheel

Limnonectes motijheel is a small brown fanged frog described in Zootaxa in April 2026 by Bitupan Boruah, N. V. Rajiv, Sourav Dutta and Abhijit Das from Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh. It is named after Motijheel, a small wetland in the reserve that breeds at least ten amphibian species. Males have tooth-like projections on the lower jaw and are larger than females. It belongs to the Limnonectes limborgi complex of look-alike frogs, which has nine genetic lineages of which only three have been formally named. (news reports on the 2026 description).

Its most unusual trait is nesting: males build cup-shaped mud nests on the forest floor, hidden under leaf litter more than ten leaves deep, and call from inside them with a 'quaaak' note. The nest is thought to become a private pool when it rains, where females lay eggs and tadpoles stay hidden from predators. The authors suggest a parent may carry tadpoles to water, as in related Bornean species, but this is not confirmed. Six specimens were collected in 2022 and 2023. (news reports on the 2026 description).