Q. What got you interested in the study of frogs?
A. I like wildlife; I spent my childhood in the wilderness and nature in my remote village in Kerala. After my first PhD in plant taxonomy, I worked at the Amphibian Evolution Lab, Brussels for a second PhD on Indian frogs. There are several reasons that got me interested in frogs. Apart from frogs being very cool, the most important reason is that amphibians indicate to a distinctive bio-geography as they cannot cross oceans, from continent to continent. They work as good subjects for the study of land they live around and its life forms. It is sad that they aren’t documented enough.

Hylarana caesari or the Maharashtra Golden-backed Frog, named after Dr Caesar Sengupta. pic courtesy/SD Biju

Q. What makes the Western Ghats unique?
A. The Western Ghats are one of the most primitive places on earth. This isolated region of mountainous ranges starts in Gujarat and continues till the tip of India. Though the landmasses of India and Sri Lanka were connected years ago, the frogs we discovered in these two regions are endemic to their own regions and do not have commonly shared species.