Hedrick's Coqui - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Hedrick's Coqui, Treehole Coqui, or Coqui De Hedrick (Eleutherodactylus hedricki) is a species of frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

in the Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylidae is a diverse family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cenozoic era, or possibly at the end of the Mesozoic. There are roughly 50 genera, one of which is Eleutherodactylus, the largest vertebrate genus, with over 700 species...

family.
It is endemic to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

.
Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s and subtropical or tropical moist montane

Montane

In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...

History

E. hedricki was discovered in 1962, when finding a new species of frog seemed very improbable. 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

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 averages 32.8 mm in size, while females averages 34.6.

Natural History

The Tree Hole Coqui is one of the mountain species. It is an arboreal species that rest in and calls from holes and crevices in tree trunks and branches, often as high 20 or 30 ft. from ground.

Voice

The voice of E. hedricki is a resonant "ping, ping, ping". The species may be heard during the day time but by midnight most of the callers have become silent. The voice has not been heard below about 1,000 ft.

Distribution

Lower elevation forests in the Luquillo Mountains (El Yunque

El Yunque

El Yunque may refer to:Mountains* El Yunque, Puerto Rico** El Yunque National Forest, formerly the Caribbean National Forest* El Yunque, Cuba* El Yunque, highest point on Robinson Crusoe Island, ChileOther...

), Cayey Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range.

Sources