>SdkbBot: /* top */Removed overlinked country wikilink and general fixes (task 2)

2022-01-04T13:40:09Z

top: Removed overlinked country wikilink and general fixes (task 2)

New page

{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sathyabhama Das Biju (SD Biju)
| image = Dr. Sathyabhama Das Biju.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = May 1963
| birth_place = [[Kadakkal]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| education = *PhD (Animal Biology), 2007, [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]], Brussels
*PhD (Plant Systematics), 1999, [[University of Calicut]], Kerala
*MSc, 1987, [[University of Kerala]], Kerala
| occupation = [[Biologist]], [[Conservation biology|conservationist]], [[herpetologist]]
| employer = [[University of Delhi]]
| alma mater = [[University of Calicut]]
| known_for = [[Amphibian]] research and [[Conservation biology|conservation]]
| awards = Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award 2011, [[IUCN]] Sabin Award for Amphibian Conservation 2008
}}

'''Sathyabhama Das Biju''' (born May, 1963) is an Indian [[amphibian]] [[biologist]], [[wildlife]] [[Conservation biology|conservationist]] and heads the Systematics Lab at the [[University of Delhi]], Department of Environmental Studies. He is dubbed as the " Frogman of India " by media for his passion for frogs<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-22/delhi/31086372_1_caecilian-species-amphibian-discovery|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707090713/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-22/delhi/31086372_1_caecilian-species-amphibian-discovery|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-07|work=[[The Times of India]]|title=Delhi 'Frogman' finds rare amphibian family}}</ref> and for bringing fresh fascination for Indian amphibians.<ref name=sabin/> In a recent interview with Sanctuary Asia, he was introduced as "one of the world's foremost [[amphibian]] experts".<ref name=asia>{{cite web|url=http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/index.php?view=article&catid=136%3Ainterviews&id=6949%3Ameet-s-d-biju-&option=com_content&Itemid=271|title=Meet S. D. Biju}}</ref> In 2010, Biju in collaboration with national and international institutions launched the nationwide Lost! Amphibians of India<ref name=LAI/> campaign to rediscover species thought to be [[extinct]]. In 2011, Biju was the recipient of the Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award<ref name=Biju>Sanctuary Asia "Wildlife Service Award" 2011 |http://www.theearthheroes.com/the-awards/2011-awards/191-sathyabhama-das-biju</ref> for his "extraordinary passion which led to the discovery of several new [[species]]". In 2008, the [[IUCN]] recognized his "extreme dedication to discover and conserve the vanishing amphibian fauna" by conferring him the [[Sabin Award]].<ref name=sabin>[http://www.amphibians.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Froglog89.pdf IUCN/ASG Sabin Award 2008]</ref> In 2006, he established the Systematics Lab at the [[University of Delhi]] to bring together and train young researchers in the field of [[herpetology]].

==Early life==
Sathyabhama Das Biju was born on May 1963 and was raised in rural [[Kerala]] in the town of [[Kadakkal]], [[Kollam]]. Biju did not receive a proper formal school education.<ref name=asia/><ref name=economist>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/21541722|title=Frog-hunters of the Western Ghats|newspaper=The Economist|date=2011-12-17}}</ref> He completed his master's degree in [[Botany]] from [[Kerala University]] in 1987 and obtained his first PhD in Plant [[Systematics]] in 1999 from [[Calicut University]]. During 1992 to 2003 he was a Scientist at the [[Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute|Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute]] (formerly [[Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute]]) (TBGRI) and during his brief stint as a plant systematist published seven new plant species, resolved long-standing taxonomic and systematic problems of plants belonging to the families [[Convolvulaceae]] and [[Rubiaceae]], besides publishing several research articles and books on plants.<ref name=pub>[http://frogindia.org/publications.htm Publication's Page, Systematics Lab, University of Delhi, ''Official website'']</ref> He is currently working as Head of the Department of Environmental Studies and Dean, the Faculty of Science at University of Delhi.

==Amphibian research==
Biju became increasingly fascinated with frogs that he encountered during the several field expeditions he conducted in the Western Ghats in search for plants. To be able to fully explore the world of amphibians Biju eventually quit his research in plant science in 2000 and joined with {{Interlanguage link multi|Franky Bossuyt|fr}} at the Amphibian Evolution Lab, [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]] and obtained his second PhD, this time in Amphibian Systematics.<ref name=review>[http://www.indiaeducationreview.com/interviews/india-doesnt-have-spirit-encouraging-and-appreciating-success-science Saumya Tewari, Indian Education Review, 23 March 2012]</ref><ref>[http://frogindia.org/people.html People's Page, Systematics Lab, University of Delhi, ''Official website'']</ref><ref>[http://www.amphibia.be/Amphibia/Biju.html Amphibian Evolution Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, ''Official Website''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401211415/http://www.amphibia.be/Amphibia/Biju.html |date=1 April 2010 }}</ref> In less than a decade of his professional career as amphibian systematist, Biju's efforts have already thrown up over 100 new species and formally described 96 new [[species]], eight new [[genera]] and two new [[families of amphibians]].<ref>[http://www.frogindia.org/newspecies.htm Species Page, Systematics Lab, University of Delhi, ''Official website'']</ref> Remarkable among his discoveries are the entirely new and famed [[purple frog]] family [[Nasikabatrachidae]] from the [[Western Ghats]] of [[India]], published in the journal ''Nature''<ref>{{cite journal|title=New frog family from India reveals an ancient biogeographical link with the Seychelles | volume=425 | issue=6959|doi=10.1038/nature02019|pmid=14562102 |journal=Nature|pages=711–714|date=October 2003 |last1=Bossuyt |first1=Franky |last2=Biju |first2=S. D. | bibcode=2003Natur.425..711B | s2cid=4425593 }}</ref> This discovery was heralded as once-in-a-century find<ref name=Nasikabatrachus>{{cite journal|title=Biogeography: The coelacanth of frogs | volume=425 | issue=6959|doi=10.1038/425669a|pmid=14562081 |journal=Nature|pages=669–670|date=October 2003 |last1=Hedges |first1=S. Blair | bibcode=2003Natur.425..669H | s2cid=35834498 }}</ref> because the last time a new family of amphibians was described was almost 100 years back. His second discovery of a new [[amphibian]] family was in 2012, the [[Chikilidae]], popularly called tailless burrowing [[caecilians]] or chikilids, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B.<ref name=Chikilidae>{{Cite journal|author=Kamei, R.G., San Mauro, D., Gower, D.J., Van Bocxlaer, I., Sherratt, E., Thomas, A., Babu. S., Bossuyt, S., Wilkinson, M. and Biju, S. D. |year=2012 |title= Discovery of a new family of amphibians from northeast India with ancient links to Africa |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume= 279|issue= 1737|pages=1–6 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0150 |pmid=22357266 |pmc=3350690}}</ref> This discovery was called the 'discovery of the year' and as 'another giant scientific discovery'.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120707090713/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-22/delhi/31086372_1_caecilian-species-amphibian-discovery Darrel Frost in ''The Times of India'', 22 Feb 2012]</ref> Both these discoveries of [[ancient]] [[Lineage (evolution)|lineages]] (both the families about 140 million years old) shed significant light on [[biogeographic]] history of the Earth, particularly that of the [[Gondwana]], and in understanding the present-day continental distribution patterns of organisms–while the closest relatives of the purple frog lives 3,000 km across the [[Indian Ocean]] in the [[Seychelles]],<ref name=Nasikabatrachus/> that of the chikilids is found 7,000 km in [[Africa]].<ref name=Chikilidae/> Notable among his new species discoveries are India's first canopy frog ''[[Raorchestes]] nerostgona'';<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hindu.com/2005/03/25/stories/2005032508240500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507180353/http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/25/stories/2005032508240500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-05-07|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=2005-03-25|title=Kerala News : Canopy frog spotted in Wayanad}}</ref> India's smallest tetrapod ''[[Nyctibatrachus minimus]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071004/asp/nation/story_8394585.asp|title=The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation}}</ref> a frog whose adults do not grow more than 10 mm; and ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'',<ref name=Nasikabatrachus/> the famed [[purple frog]].

A critical aspect of Biju's work has been the combination of molecular techniques with traditional approaches<ref name=Biju/> bringing on par with the international practice in [[amphibian]] research. His efforts have resolved long-standing taxonomic and systematic problems and confusions in difficult amphibian groups: the bush frogs ''[[Philautus]]''<ref>{{cite journal|title=Systematics and phylogeny of Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Western Ghats of India, with descriptions of 12 new species | doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x | volume=155|issue=2|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|pages=374–444|year = 2009|last1 = Biju|first1 = S. D.| last2=Bossuyt | first2=Franky |doi-access=free}}</ref> and night frogs ''[[Nyctibatrachus]]''.<ref>[http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/z03029p096f.pdf Zootaxa, 2011]</ref> In recognition of his outstanding contribution to India's modern amphibian systematics scientists named a frog after him ''[[Polypedates]] bijui''.<ref>[http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/18830254/2040059546/name/P_bijui.pdf Biosystematica, August 2011]</ref> Biju's tireless endeavor brought the Indian amphibians into the global limelight. The world was taken by surprise to see a frog featured on the cover of a largely macro-economics and a business magazine, ''[[The Economist]]'', London.<ref name=economist/>

==Conservation career==
Biju's conservation concern for the rapidly vanishing [[amphibians]], incidentally the world's most threatened [[vertebrate]] group<ref name=review/> led to the creation of two important conservation initiatives in India. The Western Ghats Network of Protected Areas of Threatened Amphibians (WNPATA),<ref>[http://wnpata.org/ WNPATA, ''Official Website'']</ref> a network for individuals and institutions working on amphibians in the Western Ghats. In collaboration with national an international institutions and individuals Biju launched a unique nationwide campaign called the Lost Amphibians of India (LAI) to rediscover 'lost' species that have not been sighted in life for as long two centuries since they were originally discovered and described. The unique feature of LAI is the involvement of civil society including students, members of [[NGOs]], and other non-amphibian specialists in conservation initiatives and has huge implications in conservation of [[amphibians]]. LAI has over 600 team members and has conducted about 42 field expeditions.<ref name=LAI>[http://www.lostspeciesindia.org/LAI2/ Lost! Amphibians of India Campaign (launched November 2010), ''Official Website'']</ref>

==Publications==
Biju has extensively published in high [[impact factor]] and prestigious [[Academic journal|journals]] such as ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'', ''[[Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society]]'', ''[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]'', ''[[Proceedings of the Royal Society]]'', and has written books on both plants and amphibians.<ref name=pub/>

==Awards==
#Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award (2011)<ref name=Biju/>
#[[IUCN]] Sabin Award (2008)<ref name=sabin/>

==See also==
* [[List of herpetologists]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Sathyabhama Das Biju}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biju, Sathyabhama Das}}
[[Category:20th-century Indian biologists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian herpetologists]]
[[Category:University of Delhi faculty]]
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:University of Kerala alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calicut alumni]]
[[Category:Free University of Brussels alumni]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kerala]]
[[Category:People from Kollam district]]
[[Category:Indian conservationists]]
[[Category:Activists from Kerala]]

Sathyabhama Das Biju - Revision history

>SdkbBot: /* top */Removed overlinked country wikilink and general fixes (task 2)