A street market in Delhi, India, in 2014.
Credit: © Don Mammoser, Shutterstock

In late April 2023, India claimed the title of the world’s most populous country. Nearly 2.9 million more people live in India than China, which held the title since 1950. A densely populated country, about a sixth of the 8 billion person global population resides in India, the seventh largest country in size. There are around 1.4 billion people in India. As the population of India continues growing, many other countries face a stagnant population or even decreasing numbers. According to the United Nations, India’s population is expected to peak at 1.7 billion in 2064. The rapid growth brings challenges in education, infrastructure, and jobs.

While the birth rate, or children per woman, of many countries around the world keeps declining, India’s population keeps growing. In 1970, China and India had similar birth rates of 5.8 in China and 5.72 in India. India’s birth rate dropped from 6 in the 1960’s to 3.4 in 1992. India’s birth rate further dropped to 2 in 2021. Despite this fertility rate decrease, India continues to grow because the average family in the 1960’s had 6 children. Those children are now parents and grandparents. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke in 2019 about controlling India’s population growth by encouraging limiting the number of children in a family.

A country’s average fertility rate must be 2.1 to maintain a population. Decades of limiting families to one child in China halted the population growth. India also established measures to curb rapid population growth, but the decline in the birth rate was more gradual compared to China’s. China’s birth rate fell to 1.2 in 2022, the nation’s lowest ever, despite the end of one-child policies in 2016. Throughout the world, the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with lower birth rates.

Many populations are aging throughout the world. The median age of a country shows at what age half the population is older and half is younger. In 2022, India’s median age of 28.7 was almost a decade lower than China’s 38.4. According to the Census Bureau, the median age in the United States reached a record high of 38.9 years in 2022. Since the birth rate has declined, the median age will continue growing older. The populations of India and China over the age of 65 will double by 2050. As healthcare and other survival measures improve and the birth rates fall, the number of people over the age of 65 is increasing in many countries. Aging populations strain economies as older citizens retire from work and require medical care and other assistance.

With such rapid population growth, unemployment levels have risen. In 2021, India’s working-age population contained 900 million people. It is projected that number will hit 1 billion in several years. Many cannot find work and have to travel or move to find secure employment. While India’s fast-growing economy has become the fifth largest in the world, the wealth is not spread evenly across the country. Its gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of a healthy economy, is high. Dividing India’s high GDP by its large population reveals an extremely low per capita GDP. Due to its low per capita GDP, India is still considered a developing country and one of the poorest nations in the world.

The Indian government is incentivizing living in smaller towns as the larger cities deal with pollution and rising temperatures. By improving infrastructure and public transportation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to encourage migration to smaller towns. The population has outgrown India’s transportation systems. In June 2023, a train crash in Odisha killed more than 261 people. The trains were packed with people, with many standing for the entire trip. The trains were so crowded that it hindered rescue efforts.

Many experts believe improving education for women across India will solve many of its problems. World Bank data shows that only 19 percent of women in India participated in the workforce in 2021. By providing education for women after primary school, they can help lead India into the future. If more women receive an education and enter the workforce, the birth rate will decline further, improving the quality of life and strength of democracy in India.

Rescue workers aid in the aftermath of a three-train crash that killed 275 people and injured more than one thousand in India’s Odisha state on June 2, 2023.
Credit: National Disaster Response Force

On Friday, June 2, 2023, a high-speed passenger train collided with a parked freight train in Balasore in India‘s Odisha state. The resulting wreck was India’s worst rail accident in decades, killing at least 275 people and injuring over one thousand. After the passenger train hit the parked freight train, many carriages derailed. Those cars were then hit by another passenger train passing the wreckage. The accident has raised questions about the safety of India’s railways.

Nearly 2,200 people were aboard the two passenger trains involved in the crash. The Coromandel Express was traveling from Kolkata to Chennai at 80 miles (127 kilometers) per hour when it veered onto a loop instead of heading straight. The Coromandel Express hit a parked freight train at Bahanaga Bazar station near Balasore. The crash derailed several carriages, which landed on a parallel track. The Howrah Superfast Express was traveling from Yesvantpur to Howrah when it ran into the derailed carriages from the Coromandel Express.

Rescue workers searched for passengers and pulled injured people from the wreckage Friday night and Saturday. Many people were rushed to crowded hospitals nearby. On Saturday, they began repairing the train tracks and clearing the damaged carriages from the area. The train service resumed operation on Monday evening, allowing some family members to travel to the site to claim loved ones. As of Monday, only 170 of the deceased passengers had been identified.

Representatives from India’s Railway Board reported the trains were traveling at appropriate speeds, and a signaling error most likely caused the crash. Both passenger trains received a green signal, allowing them to proceed on the route. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the wreck scene and vowed a lengthy investigation and harsh punishment for anyone found guilty in the accident. Prime Minister Modi has worked on adding new trains to the network, including an innovative bullet train connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

More than 20 million passengers ride India’s rail network every day. With more than 13,000 trains, the rail network is one of the largest in the world. Many people are blaming poor upkeep on older trains and infrastructure for the accident. While serious train accidents have declined in recent decades, some audits suggest that spending on safety measures has also decreased. Reports show that India used to record an average of 475 derailments a year. Today, India averages around 50 derailments a year. Until 2017, India recorded a minimum of 100 train-related deaths a year. While the numbers show a safety improvement, many trains still in operation do not have advanced safety technology to avoid disasters. The Indian government spent almost $30 billion on the rail network in the last calendar year. Critics suggest most of this allocated money has been used to improve speed and comfort, not general safety.

India’s deadliest train disaster occurred on June 6, 1981, almost 42 years ago exactly. On that day, an overcrowded passenger train plunged into the Bagmati River while crossing a bridge in Bihar state. The accident killed an estimated 800 people. However, the investigation never determined the cause of the accident or the final death count.

Indian-born American astronaut Kalpana Chawla
Credit: NASA

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature AAPI pioneers in a variety of areas.

Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-born American astronaut. In 1997, she became the first Indian-born woman to travel in space. Chawla served on two missions aboard the United States space shuttle Columbia as a mission specialist and robotic arm operator.

Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, northern India. Karnal was part of the state of Punjab at that time. Today, it is part of the state of Haryana. She graduated from the Punjab Engineering College in 1982. That same year, she immigrated to the United States. In 1984, she earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas in Austin. She married Jean-Pierre Harrison, an aviation teacher and author, in 1983. She received her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988. She then went to work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1994, she was selected for training as an astronaut candidate.

In 1997, Chawla flew her first mission on the shuttle Columbia. She was the second person of Indian descent to travel in space, following Indian-born cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, who traveled on a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1984. Chawla’s duties involved conducting experiments in microgravity, sometimes called zero gravity or weightlessness, and launching a satellite using the shuttle’s robotic arm. Her second mission was on the same shuttle in 2003. However, on Feb. 1, 2003, as the Columbia was returning to Earth after the 16-day mission, the spacecraft broke apart high over Texas. Chawla and six other crew members were killed.

Chawla received many honors for her work in space. They included the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, an asteroid that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter is named the 51826 Kalpanachawla in her honor.

Hinduism is the primary religion of India and one of the largest religions in the world, based on the number of followers. These Indian women are lighting lamps for a major Hindu festival called Diwali, celebrated by Hindu communities worldwide.
Credit: AP/Wide World

Happy Diwali! It is a time for family, flowers, fireworks, lights, sweet treats, and vibrant silks. Diwali,also spelled Divali or Dipavali, is a major Hindu festival. It is sometimes called the festival of lights. It is celebrated in all parts of India, where it is a national holiday, and in Hindu communities worldwide. Just recently New York City Public Schools announced Diwali will be recognized as an official holiday starting in 2023. Diwali is scheduled based on the phases of the moon. The festivities normally fall after India cools down from summer but before monsoon season begins.

Diwali lasts from two to five days, depending on local custom. It falls during the Hindu month of Kartika (October to November). The high point of Diwali is the day of the new moon, which is New Year’s Day in some parts of India. Dipavali is a Sanskrit term that means row of lights. During Diwali, people decorate their homes and Hindu temples with small earthenware oil lamps. They also may visit each other, exchange gifts and greeting cards, and wear new clothes.

During Diwali, a major Hindu festival, people decorate their homes and temples with small earthenware oil lamps. The name Diwali comes from a Sanskrit word meaning row of lights. This picture shows a man in India lighting Diwali lamps that are decorated with flowers.
Credit: © Bob Krist, Corbis

Diwali has different meanings for different groups of Hindus, but it usually honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Thus, Diwali has a special importance for business owners, merchants, and shopkeepers, who pray to Lakshmi during the festival. For these people, Diwali lamps are meant to help Lakshmi find her way into the homes of the faithful to give them prosperity. For others, the lamps light the path of ancestors who have visited earth. The lamps also symbolize the turning of the seasons and of the human spirit from darkness to light.

Diwali also commemorates the return of Rama and his wife, Sita, to the holy city of Ayodhya after 14 years in exile. Rama is the hero of the ancient Sanskrit the Ramayana. The Diwali lamps serve to welcome the returning couple. In West Bengal, Diwali is associated with Kali, the goddess of destruction.

Followers of the Sikh religion also celebrate Diwali. It marks the release from prison in 1619 of Guru Hargobind by the Mughal emperor. Guru Hargobind was the sixth Sikh guru (spiritual leader). Like Hindus, Sikhs exchange gifts and light lamps in their homes and temples during the festival.

Vira-nirvana, a one-day Jain festival, coincides with Diwali and shares some of its features. Vira-nirvana marks the passing of Mahavira, who organized the Jain religion, into nirvana. Nirvana is a state of perfect peace outside the cycle of birth and death. Many Jains devote this day to fasting and meditation. They also light lamps to mark Mahavira’s passing.

September 13, 2019

Last week, on September 6, an up-and-coming space agency fell just short of its goal. About 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) above the moon’s surface, the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) lander Vikram deviated from its landing course and disappeared from radio contact. Vikram was to be the crowning stage of Chandrayaan-2 (Mooncraft-2), ISRO’s second lunar mission.

This artist’s depiction shows Chandrayaan-2′s lunar lander, Vikram, approaching the moon. Credit: © Raymond Cassel, Shutterstock

India was endeavoring to become the fourth country to make a soft landing (a landing that does not destroy the craft) on the surface of the moon, after the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China. Vikram would have been the first lander near the moon’s south pole, a region full of water ice and other minerals that could one day be the site of a permanent base. Vikram would have deployed a rover to explore the landing site. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which had launched Vikram, located the lander on the surface of the moon a few days after its disappearance. ISRO reported that Vikram had apparently made a “hard landing,” and the lander did not respond to contact attempts.

Before the recent failure, ISRO had been riding a wave of success. In 2008, the agency deployed its first lunar satellite, Chandrayaan-1. Chandrayaan-1 mapped the moon’s surface for about a year. The satellite also released a hard lander that impacted the lunar surface. In 2013, ISRO launched the Mars Orbiter Mission, called Mangalyaan (Marscraft). The satellite overcame a minor engine failure to reach Martian orbit in September 2014.

ISRO’s failed soft landing on the moon comes on the heels of another prominent lunar failure. In April 2019, the lander Beresheet (In the Beginning), developed by the Israeli company SpaceIL, slammed into the moon when its main engine cut out unexpectedly. SpaceIL had hoped to become the first private company to place a lander on the moon’s surface. It had been one of the competitors for the Google Lunar X Prize. The contest would have awarded $20 million to the first company to achieve a soft landing on the moon. But none of the competitors attempted a landing, even after several deadline extensions, so the prize was withdrawn. The Israeli project cost about $100 million, a fraction of what a similar mission by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would have cost, but it took greater risks and ultimately failed.

The process of landing is the most dangerous phase of a lander’s mission. Many different systems must work perfectly for the lander to bring itself to a halt on the surface. Any malfunction is usually catastrophic. At other points in a mission, such as in transit to or in orbit around another body, engineers have plenty of time to identify and work around problems with a spacecraft. But this cannot be done in the time-sensitive environment of landing.

May 17, 2018

On Tuesday, May 15, one of the world’s most beautiful and historic diamonds, the Farnese Blue, sold at auction in Switzerland for $6.7 million. The Farnese Blue is not the most expensive diamond on the planet—that honor currently goes to the $57.5-million Oppenheimer Blue, the world’s largest blue diamond. But $6.7 million is still a lot for a single gem, and the 6.16-carat pear-shaped Farnese Blue has had a fascinating journey that goes right along with the history books.

A silver marker is included in the box with the Farnese Blue diamond. In French, it reads: “Remarkable blue brilliant. This historical stone was offered by the Philippine Islands to Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain, wife of Philippe V, great grandfather of the Comte de Villafranca, current owner of that stone.” Credit: © Sothebys

Tuesday’s auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva was the first public sale of the Farnese Blue, which had remained in the same family for centuries. Part of a bank-busting sale collection called “Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels,” the Farnese Blue was purchased by an unnamed private collector. Like many other famous diamonds, the Farnese Blue came from the historic Golconda mines of southern India.

Historically, the Farnese Blue can be traced back to Elisabeth Farnese, the queen of Spain from 1714 to 1746. At the time of her marriage to King Philip V in 1714, the Spanish monarchy was reeling from years of fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession. Badly in debt, the king appealed to Spain’s colonies around the world to provide wedding gifts for his new bride. Eventually, an enormous amount of gold and gems was loaded onto 12 ships, a so-called “Golden Fleet” that set sail from Cuba in August 1715, bound for Spain. Not long after leaving port, however, a hurricane destroyed all but one ship of the Golden Fleet—a ship carrying treasures, the Blue Farnese among them, collected by the governor of the Philippines, a Spanish colony at the time. Queen Elisabeth (and no doubt a frustrated King Philip) missed out on the bulk of the expensive gifts, but she had a shiny new blue diamond.

The Farnese Blue then passed down through Philippe, a younger son of Elisabeth and Philip who became the duke of Parma, Elisabeth’s hometown in Italy. The stone then went to Philippe’s son Ferdinand, the second duke of Parma. Ferdinand’s son Louis got the diamond before his brief reign as king of Etruria (present-day Tuscany, Umbria, and Latium) during the tumultuous years of the Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815). Louis’s son Charles, who after a roundabout path ended up as the Comte de Villafranca, left the Farnese Blue to his grandson, Robert, the last duke of Parma.

After the Risorgimento (the unification of Italy in the 1860′s), Robert lived with other deposed Italian dukes in neighboring Austria-Hungary, which was then ruled by Robert’s cousin, the Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph. Robert’s son, Prince Elie, included the diamond in the wedding presents to his wife Maria Anna in 1903. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy fell at the end of World War I (1914-1918), and with it went the royal status of the House of Habsburg. Maria Anna kept the Farnese Blue in the now private family, however, and the diamond passed down through successive generations until its eventual sale this week.

April 16, 2018

Hindi <<HIHN dee,>>, also called Modern Standard Hindi, is spoken by more than 500 million people. It is the principal official language of India. More than two-fifths of India’s people speak one or more of the dialects (language variations) of Hindi. There are many regional and local dialects in India, and each state has its own official language. Hindi is the official language of the capital, Delhi, and seven states. Hindi speakers live mostly in northern India, but Hindi is commonly heard in other parts of the country. Hindi speakers are also found in Nepal, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other countries.

The flag of India flies over hundreds of millions of Hindi speakers in India. Credit: © T. Lesia, Shutterstock

Urdu is a sister language of Hindi. The languages are similar in grammar and pronunciation. When written, however, they use different alphabets and scripts. Cultural differences further separate the languages. Indian Hindus, people who practice Hinduism, often speak Hindi. Indian Muslims, people who practice Islam, often speak Urdu. Urdu is also spoken in Pakistan and Kashmir. Scholars sometimes speak of the two languages collectively as Hindi-Urdu. The spoken form is sometimes called Hindustani. Hindi-Urdu is the main language used in Indian films (Bollywood) and in much Indian popular music.

The Indian film industry produces hundreds of motion pictures every year. Most films are in Hindi (or Hindustani), but some are made in regional languages. Credit: WORLD BOOK photo by David R. Frazier

Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-European family. It is part of the New Indo-Aryan (NIA) group. Hindi uses the Devanagari alphabet, which has roots in Sanskrit, the oldest formal written language of India. Devanagari is a phonetic alphabet, so each letter represents a sound. It has 44 letters, with 33 consonants and 11 vowels. Smaller marks called matras represent vowels preceded by a consonant. Matras are written on the symbol of the preceding consonant. The letters are formed by markings that hang down from a horizontal line (see the red script in the movie poster above).

Click to view larger image
Hindi is spoken in Delhi and the northern states of India. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Hindi nouns have gender, number, and case. They can be masculine or feminine, singular or plural, and direct or oblique. Most adjectives agree with the gender, number, and case of the nouns they modify. Hindi has four simple tenses and three aspects. Word order for the Hindi language is subject-object-verb. Hindi is written from left to right, and Urdu is written from right to left. Urdu uses the Persian-Arabic alphabet. English words with Hindi origins include bungalow, shampoo, bandana, and jungle.

Hindi and Urdu are based of the spoken dialect of Delhi, Khari Boli, which means standard speech. The modern literary language is based on Khari Boli, which was written in the Devanagari alphabet. Written Hindi can be traced back to poetry of the 1300′s. Hindi prose became prominent in the early 1900’s.

February 5, 2018

Just over a century ago, in 1913, the winner of the 13th Nobel Prize in literature was Rabindranath Tagore, a writer from the historic region of Bengal in northeastern India. Tagore wrote mainly in Bengali, his native language, and his poems, songs, plays, stories, and essays were part of a long legacy of influential literature in the language. Tagore’s writings called for unity, peace, and freedom among all people. He also supported independence for India, which was then ruled by the United Kingdom. Tagore was the first non-European writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature.

Bangladesh flag. Credit: © T. Lesia, Shutterstock

Tagore’s language, Bengali, is one of the main languages of South Asia. Today, about two-thirds of all Bengali speakers live in the densely-populated nation of Bangladesh, where the language is called Bangla. Bangladesh means Bengal nation. Most other Bengali speakers live across Bangladesh’s western border in West Bengal, a state in northeastern India. In the past, West Bengal and Bangladesh were part of the single historical region of Bengal.

Today, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. According to some estimates, more than 240 million people speak it as their primary language.

Click to view larger image
Bangladesh Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Bengali is part of the huge Indo-European language family that includes many European languages, Persian, and several major languages of India. Within this family, Bengali belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch, which also includes Hindi and Urdu. Like Hindi and Urdu, Bengali developed from the ancient Indian language Sanskrit, which dates back at least 3,000 years. The earliest known examples of Bengali are a collection of sacred Buddhist songs that were written down around 1,000 years ago.

The Bengal region has been ruled by many empires and peoples, including Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, Bengal became the political and economic center of British rule in India. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Tagore and other Bengali writers were at the forefront of the struggle for Indian independence.

India became independent in 1947, but it was divided into two parts—and so was Bengal. West Bengal, which is mostly Hindu, remained part of India. East Bengal, which is mostly Muslim, was combined with the northwestern corner of India, also mostly Muslim, to form the nation of Pakistan.

Cultural and economic differences divided East Bengal (renamed East Pakistan) and West Pakistan, however. Language was one of the major issues. The people in West Pakistan spoke several languages, and their leaders hoped that the main one, Urdu, could become a unifying influence in the country. East Pakistanis wanted to keep their own language, Bengali, and they resented attempts to make Urdu their official language. Several Bengali poets of the 1950’s and 1960’s became defenders of Bengali language and culture. In 1971, resentments on a number of issues boiled over into civil war. East Pakistanis declared independence and established Bangladesh.

Bengali speakers in both Bangladesh and West Bengal continue to identify closely and proudly with their language. The Bengali language has been one of the most influential elements in the region’s culture and history.

January 25, 2018

Tomorrow, January 26, is Republic Day, a national holiday in India. Republic Day marks the occasion when the Constitution of India became the nation’s governing document on Jan. 26, 1950. Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders chose January 26 to enact the constitution in honor of the day in 1930 when India had first declared its independence from the United Kingdom. The independence process was interrupted and slow, however, and India did not officially become independent until 1947, an event now marked by India’s Independence Day on August 15.

Soldiers parade on camelback during the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi, India. Credit: Lawrence Jackson, White House

Tomorrow morning in New Delhi, the Indian capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin the Republic Day festivities by placing a floral wreath at the India Gate war memorial. A large parade follows, rich with colorful floats, flags, and marching battalions from India’s air force, army, and navy. Other cities will host Republic Day parades as well, and people throughout the nation will celebrate with private parties and family gatherings.

The United Kingdom influenced much of India’s history beginning in the 1600′s. For nearly 260 years, the British East India Company controlled much of India’s commerce and influenced its government and political system. In 1858, the British government took direct control of India after rebellions against the company’s rule. Indians did not generally feel content about British rule in India, however. Indians were discriminated against in their own homeland, where they were not allowed to advance to high positions in government service or to become officers in the army.

New Delhi’s India Gate is a war memorial originally dedicated to the more than 74,000 Indian soldiers killed during World War I (1914-1918). Credit: © Rakesh Nayar, Shutterstock

During World War I (1914-1918), more than 1 million Indian troops fought under British command in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. After the war, promised social and political reforms were slow in coming, and violent protests erupted in many Indian cities. By 1920, Mohandas K. Gandhi had become a leader in the Indian independence movement and in the Indian National Congress, India’s most important political organization. Gandhi persuaded the Congress to adopt his program of nonviolent disobedience.

On Jan. 26, 1930, members of the Indian National Congress officially declared Purna Swaraj, (complete self-rule), a declaration of independence from British authority. The declaration was nonbinding, but Indian people did gain more political and social freedoms in the 1930′s. The onset of World War II (1939-1945), however, disrupted progress. The Indian National Congress refused to support the British war effort, demanding instead immediate independence. Despite this refusal, many Indian soldiers fought with the British (and some against them) during the war. The British promised that they would grant India independence after the fighting stopped.

In 1947, Indian and British leaders agreed to divide the country into Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan. The leaders saw no other way of ending violence between Hindus and Muslims, which had taken place for many years and hindered the independence process. India became an independent nation on Aug. 15, 1947. Pakistan had become an independent nation the day before. The two new nations then fought a bloody war for control of the contested border area of Kashmir.

Jawaharlal Nehru, a close associate of Gandhi, became India’s first prime minister after independence. A constituent assembly drew up a new constitution. The assembly approved the constitution in November 1949. It went into effect on Jan. 26, 1950.

September 29, 2017

The region of the Western Ghats mountain range in India has turned up another new species of frog in 2017, and this one is quite bizarre. Bhupathy’s purple frog was named in honor of noted herpetologist Subramaniam Bhupathy, who died from a fall during an expedition in the Western Ghats in 2014. Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of reptiles and amphibians. Bhupathy’s purple frog is rather stout with shiny purple skin, small eyes ringed with light blue, and a pointy piglike nose.

The unusual and newly discovered Bhupathy’s purple frog surfaces only during monsoon (and mating) season. Credit: © Jegath Janani, Alytes

You may recall a Behind the Headlines entry from earlier this year describing seven tiny new frogs also found in the Western Ghats region. Seven at one time is astounding, but it may be an even greater feat to have discovered this single amphibian. You see, Bhupathy’s purple pig-nose frog lives almost entirely underground and has only one other member in its frog genus Nasikabatrachus. Elizabeth Prendini, a herpetologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, co-wrote a paper describing the species in a recent issue of the batrachology (study of amphibians) journal Alytes.

Bhupathy’s purple frog looks bizarre, to be sure, but it also has a bizarre life cycle. The only time an adult frog emerges from of its underground home is during the monsoon season. The reason for this excursion is to mate. When the rainy season begins, the male purple pig-nose frog calls from underground and is lured into the open by the presence of an interested female. After frog negotiations are complete, the frogs mate in a stream, leaving behind fertilized eggs. The frog parents then go their own ways and crawl back beneath the soil. After the tadpoles hatch, they move from the streams to cliffs behind waterfalls, where they cling to rocks using suckerlike mouths, devouring the algae that grow there. After several weeks, the tadpoles develop into adult frogs and drop from the waterfall cliffs. They then find a suitable place to make their underground home, where they live the rest of their lives—except to mate, of course, during the rainy season. Bhupathy’s purple frogs do not even surface to eat. They use their long, fluted tongues to eat subterranean termites and ants.

Bhupathy’s purple pig-nose frogs may be unlike any others, but like most frogs, unfortunately, they are endangered. One-third of the frogs in the Western Ghats region are threatened with extinction. Increased conservation efforts are needed to protect these new species as well as other frogs from threats posed by habitat loss, pollution, and climate change.