Eleutherodactylus portoricensis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Eleutherodactylus portoricensis |
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Eleutherodactylus portoricensis (vernacular Spanish: coquí de la montaña) is a frog native to Puerto Rico that belongs to the family Eleutherodactylidae. Its vernacular English names are upland coqui, mountain coqui, and Puerto Rican robber frog. It is found in the Toro Negro State Forest and other similar mountainous regions.
History and nomenclature
The history of this species is quite complex, just as that of the common coquí (Eleutherodactylus coqui). In 1927 Eleutherodactylus portoricensis was described as the Puerto Rican coquí and it was classified as a species that lived only in Puerto Rico and which is different from species that live in other Caribbean islands. As such, it was classified as a new species (Schmidt, 1927). From 1927 to 1966 the nighttime CO-QUI sound was thought to correspond to a species of coquí that lived in the entire Island, in high elevations as well as in lower elevations alike (Schmidt, 1928; Thomas, 1966). However, in the winter of 1964-65, Richard Thomas becomes aware that this sound was produced not by one, but by two species. In 1966 this researcher publishes an article in which he establishes that the sample that Schmidt used to describe Eleutherodactylus portoricensis corresponded to a species that lived only in the higher elevations and which is today known as the coquí de montaña. Of the 16 species of coquíes in Puerto Rico, this is the ninth species classified (Thomas & Joglar, 1996). There is no other scientific name for this species. The common name in Spanish is coquí de la montaña. However, there are other common names. In his catalogue of vertebrates in Puerto Rico, Vélez (1977) uses the common name "coquí montaño de Puerto Rico" and in English "Puerto Rico mountain coqui”. In his book on the herpetofauna of Puerto Rico, Rivero (1978) uses the name "coquí de montaña".
Habitat
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is one of the only two species to actually emit the sound "coqui", the other one being the common coqui. Above its eyes, this species has a white half-moon, and in its belly, it has dark-brown spots. These characteristics make it easy to identify.
See also
In Spanish: Coquí de la montaña para niños
