Welcome to my Puerto Rico and El Yunque photo exhibit.

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petroglyphs inland | El Yunque map | Arecibo | Dwarf Forest | Mount Britton | Jungle | flowers and such | Waterfalls galore | The Dinosaurs of Fajardo | Coqui Frogs | more coquis | types of coquis | Petroglyphs
types of coquis

Here, there are three photos. The first shows the different types of coquis in a line drawing and the second is a colored painting for you to see what that frog looks like. The third is a very old petroglyph carving.

 

Beware: High quality photos--slow download zone!

My apologies, but this site may not be for sightseers who only have a fast, passing intrest. Throughout the entire site there will be large photographs with many photos per page. This is needed to show how impressieve El Yunque is--but this translates out to be slow downloading unless you have a fast computer system with a fast internet hookup. The average download time for the page is around two minutes. If you are serious about seeing some quality photos of the El Yunque rainforest then this is your site otherwise you may not have the patience for the downloading.

My advice here is just to prop your feet up, relax, and read something for a few minutes to allow the page to download--it will be worth it. Got your feet up? Take a few deep breaths--we shouldn't be in that much of a hurry anyway.

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1. Coqui Comun
2. Coqui Mona
3. Coqui Guajon
4. Coqui Grillo
5. Coqui Churi
6. Coqui Duende
7. Coqui De Los Hierbas
8. Coqui Martillito
9. Coqui Dorado
10. Coqui Caoba
11. Coqui Enida
12. Coqui Melodioso
13. Coqui Hendrick
14. Coqui Palmeado
15. Coqui Pitito
16. Coqui Montana
 

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There are 16 native species of tree frogs or coquis in Puerto Rico. Thirteen are  in the Caribbean National Forest and 11 of the 13 are endemic--occur only in Puerto Rico. The Burrow Coqui is found only in E1 Yunque's Cloud Forest. Only two coquis species (the Forest and Common Coquis)  produce the sound "co-kee," but in Puerto Rico the name "coqui" refers to all 16 species. Two of El Yunque's coqui species, the Web-footed and Mottled Coquis, are classified as threatened in Puerto Rico and have been proposed for federal listing as Threatened or Endangered. The Web-footed Coqui inhabits mountain streams and is usually found near waterfalls. The Mottled Coqui inhabits montane forest and is found in mudbanks, logs and in or near moss. 

Most tree frog species begin calling at sunset. Each species has a characteristic call. Tree frogs call to defend their territories, of which there are three types: shelter, feeding and mating. The most conspicuous calls are emitted by males in defense of their mating territory. Apparently, the call of the male coqui serves to discourage other nearby males from calling to attract females.

Coquis, unlike many other frogs, do not pass through a tadpole stage. The female lays the egg (about 28 per clutch) in a humid terrestrial environment. In at least 5 of the Puerto Rican species, the male broods and guards the eggs and females are aggressively forced away from the eggs soon after laying. At the end of the incubation period, a froglet, a tiny replica of the adult, emerges from each egg.

All coquis have disks or pads on the tips of their toes, which help them cling to slippery surfaces. Many species are arboreal, that is, they live in trees. Arboreal species tend to have larger toe pads, relative to their weight, than terrestrial species. One species, the Web-footed Coqui (E. karischmidti), has webbed toes for swimming.

On the coastal lowlands almost all coqui species are arboreal, while in the highland forest most are terrestrial. Nearly all the lowlands species have ranges extending high up into the mountains, but mountain species rarely range down to the coast.

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