Scientists believe they have come across a new species of frog, whose ancestors may well have lived alongside dinosaurs that became extinct over 65 million years ago.

These frogs, which stand out due to their purple colour and snub nose, reveal an ancient bio-geographical link with the Seychelles, claim two scientists, including one from the Thiruvananthapuram-based Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, in an article published in the British science magazine Nature.

These frogs share some characteristics with a species of frogs found in the Seychelles and Australia, which suggests that they may have once lived together on Gondwanaland, the supercontinent that eventually broke up to give rise to India, Antartica, Africa, South America and Australia.

S D Biju and Belgian Franky Bossuyt have named the new species Nasikabatrachus Sahyadrensis: from the Sanskrit word for nose - nasika; batrachus - meaning frog; and Sahyadris, the name given to the Western Ghats in Maharashtra.

The three-inch wonders are found in the Western Ghats in Maharashtra.