India, Sept. 3 -- A newly discovered frog in the forests of Tripura has given an unexpected afterlife to the memory of a Kerala woman who spent much of her own life caring for people.

The frog, Amolops ammachi, has been named after Padmini Varkey, affectionately known as Ammachi, by a team of scientists led by S D Biju of the University of Delhi, widely known as the 'Frogman of India'.

The name is more than a formal scientific tribute. Biju had known Ammachi decades before he became one of India's leading amphibian scientists.

As a young student and activist in Thiruvananthapuram, he was a friend and fellow activist of her son Ashokan and was among the young people who found a welcoming space in the Varkey household.

Years later, whil...