El Coqui de Puerto Rico
El Coqui de Puerto Rico (Eleutherodactylus) - Photo: George Collazo ©
On the island of Puerto Rico, there is a unique species of tree frog known as the Coqui.
The total family of these tree frogs consists of 16 different native species, 13 of which inhabit the Caribbean National Forest, El Yunque. Eleven of the 13 are endemic species, that is, they occur only in Puerto Rico. The Coqui belongs to the Family of Leptodactylidae and it is an Amphibian.
The Amphibians were the first vertebrates on land in late Devonian times (350 million years ago). Frogs are part of the major members of the class Amphibia that still exist today. The Coqui’s scientific name is Eleutherodactylus, which in Greek means free toes.
The name “Coqui” comes from the song that the male of the species is often heard singing, what it seems to say is: “Ko-kee… Ko-kee…”. That’s why it is called “Coqui” in Spanish. The Coquies begin to sing at sunset and sing all night long until dawn when they stop singing and head for their nest.
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