Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials,
Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
The View From India
Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.
First Day First Show
News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.
Today's Cache
Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.
Science For All
The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!
Data Point
Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers
THEdge
At the cutting edge of education and careers
Health Matters
Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there
Gender Agenda
Stories from beyond the binary.
The Hindu On Books
Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.
Published – August 12, 2026 03:17 pm IST – THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Ammachi’s Cascade Frog (Amolops ammachi). The name honours the late Kerala social worker and philanthropist Padmini Varkey, affectionately known as ‘Ammachi’ (or mother).
| Photo Credit: special arrangement
Scientists have discovered three new species of cascade frogs from the biodiverse-rich forests of Northeast India and documented five other species in the country for the first time.
The findings, published in the peer-reviewed Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, are the culmination of over 15 years of extensive field research across the northeastern States.
The research, led by Prof. S. D. Biju of the Department of Environmental Studies, Delhi University, documented more than 300 geographic populations of cascade frogs inhabiting fast-flowing forest streams. Using DNA analyses along with detailed morphological comparisons of adult frogs and tadpoles, the scientists confirmed that populations from Tripura, Nagaland and West Bengal represent three species previously unknown to science.