Legless, underground amphibians discovered in India

AP Photo/www.frogindia.org, Sathyabhama Das Biju

In this photo released by www.frogindia.org, an adult chikilidae sits on its eggs in the soils of northeast India. Since the age of dinosaurs the chikilidae has burrowed unbothered beneath the monsoon-soaked soils of remote northeast India, unknown to science and mistaken by many villagers as a deadly, miniature snake. Their discovery, published Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in a journal of the Royal Society of London, gives yet more evidence that India is a hotbed of amphibian life with habitats worth protecting against the country's industry-heavy development agenda.

In this photo released by www.frogindia.org, a chikilidae egg is shown in the soils of northeast India. Since the age of dinosaurs the chikilidae has burrowed unbothered beneath the monsoon-soaked soils of remote northeast India, unknown to science and mistaken by many villagers as a deadly, miniature snake. Their discovery, published Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in a journal of the Royal Society of London, gives yet more evidence that India is a hotbed of amphibian life with habitats worth protecting against the country's industry-heavy development agenda.

In this photo released by www.frogindia.org, chikilidae eggs are shown in the soils of northeast India. Since the age of dinosaurs the chikilidae has burrowed unbothered beneath the monsoon-soaked soils of remote northeast India, unknown to science and mistaken by many villagers as a deadly, miniature snake. Their discovery, published Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in a journal of the Royal Society of London, gives yet more evidence that India is a hotbed of amphibian life with habitats worth protecting against the country's industry-heavy development agenda.

In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 photo, Delhi professor Sathyabhama Das Biju displays an adult chikilidae in his laboratory in New Delhi, India. Biju and his team of biologists have identified an entirely new family of amphibians, called chikilidae, endemic to the region but with ancient links to Africa. Their discovery, published Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in a journal of the Royal Society of London, gives yet more evidence that India is a hotbed of amphibian life with habitats worth protecting against the country's industry-heavy development agenda.

In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 photo, Delhi professor Sathyabhama Das Biju speaks to the Associated Press in his laboratory in New Delhi, India. Biju and his team of biologists have identified an entirely new family of amphibians, called chikilidae, endemic to the region but with ancient links to Africa. Their discovery, published Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in a journal of the Royal Society of London, gives yet more evidence that India is a hotbed of amphibian life with habitats worth protecting against the country's industry-heavy development agenda.