NEW DELHI: Kollam Kadakkal native Dr Satyabhama Das Biju (Dr Biju), a senior professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Delhi, is an animal and plant scientist who discovered the 'Maveli Frog', a rare species that has been described as the discovery of the century by the scientific world.

He is one of the five zoologists in the world who discovered more than 100 new frogs. So far, he has discovered 96 new species, eight new genera and two new families of amphibians. The 59-year-old is also nicknamed 'India's Frog Man'.

To honour him, scientists have named a frog 'Polypedates bijui'. Biju is currently on the hunt to discover 100 Indian frog species that remain hidden.

He discovered the 7 cm Maveli frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), which is known as Kerala's own frog, from Idukki. This has been described as the discovery of the century by the scientific world.

They live underground by burrowing with their muscular front legs. They usually eat termites. Maveli frog got its name because it comes out only one day in a year.

Dr Biju was a scientist at Thiruvananthapuram Tropical Botanical Garden Research Institute till 2004. His interest in frogs was sparked by his craze for photography and the several investigations carried out in the Western Ghats in search of plants. He is also an associate of the Harvard University Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.