Hedrick's coquí, the treehole coquí, or ''coquí de Hedrick'' (''Eleutherodactylus hedricki'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Eleutherodactylidae The Eleutherodactylidae are a family of direct-developing frogs native to northern South America, the Caribbean, and southernmost North America. They are sometimes known under the common name rain frogs. Formerly the subfamily Eleutherodactylina ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

History

''E. hedricki'' was discovered in 1962, when finding a new species of frog seemed very improbable. It is named in honor of Hedrick J. Rivero at age 9, who declared himself assistant to his father and followed him through creeks, caves, and mountains during any time of the day or night.

Description

Its distinctive features are the pronounced constriction in the back of the head (as if the waist were in the back of the head), a shallow furrow along the middle of the back from between the eyes to near the sacral hump, and the short, rounded snout. Other distinguishing but not necessarily exclusive characteristics are: the small eyes, with narrow upper eyelids, the uniformerly granular dorsum, the pair of light, externally concave lines on the back (not too distinct in very dark animals), the blackish throat of males, and the absence of dark streaks along the sides of the snout. The basic dorsal color may be brown or dark gray, almost uniform or with obscure variegation or vermiculations of lighter gray. The males average 32.8 mm in length, while females average 34.6 mm. The treehole coqui is a mountain-dwelling, arboreal species that rests in and calls from holes and crevices in tree trunks and branches, often as high 20 or 30 ft from ground. The call of ''E. hedricki'' is a resonant "ping, ping, ping". The species may be heard during the day, but by midnight, most of the callers have become silent. The call has not been heard below about 1,000 ft.

Distribution

The species is found in lower-elevation forest in the

Luquillo Mountains The Sierra de Luquillo (English: "Luquillo Mountains") is a steep-sided, high-Rain, precipitation, and deeply-forested subrange of the Cordillera Central (Puerto Rico), Cordillera Central mountain range in the Geography of Puerto Rico, main island ...

( El Yunque), Cayey Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range.2002 Wildlife Facts: Hedrick's Coqui
U.S. Department of Agriculture

References

Sources

*Rivero, Juan A. 1998. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Puerto Rico. 2. ed. rev. Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico *Joglar, Rafael L. 1998. Los Coqus de Puerto Rico: Su Historia Natural y Conservaci. Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico
US Fish and wildlife service

History

Description

Distribution

References

Sources

See also