Eleutherodactylus jasperi
SUBFAMILY
Eleutherodactylinae
TAXONOMY
Eleutherodactylus jasperi Drewry and Jones, 1976, 3.7 mi (6 km) southeast of Cayey, Puerto Rico.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
Spanish: Coquí dorado.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
This small frog attains a maximum snout-vent length of 8.5 in (21.5 mm). The dorsum is shagreen, and the venter is areolate. The snout is bluntly rounded and nearly truncate in dorsal view; the tympanum is about one-half of the diameter of the eye. The fingers and toes are moderately long, unwebbed, and have rounded terminal discs. The dorsum is golden yellow to orange yellow, and the venter is pale yellow, except that the skin covering the abdomen is transparent. The iris is pale gray with black flecks.
DISTRIBUTION
This species has been known only from elevations of 2,100–2,750 ft (650–850 m) in the Sierra de Cayey, Puerto Rico.
HABITAT
This strictly nocturnal frog inhabits arboreal bromeliads in subhumid forest.
BEHAVIOR
This small nocturnal species seeks shelter in bromeliads by day.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Presumably the diet includes small arthropods.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Males call from bromeliads at night; the call consists of a series of six to eight notes, "tuit-tuit-tuit-tuit." Eleutherodactylus jasperi is the only member of the family that is known to have internal fertilization and give birth to living young. The species is ovoviparous, in that the eggs are retained in the oviduct and the yolk within the egg capsule supplies all nutrition. The eggs are up to 0.2 in (5 mm) in diameter and require about 30 days to develop into froglets. The number of young is three to five; upon birth they are 0.3 in (7 mm) long and contain a large amount of yolk in the abdomen.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Although listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN, this species is presumed to be extinct; it was last observed in 1981.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Because of its nearly unique reproductive mode, this small frog was of immense interest to biologists, but only limited data were obtained before it disappeared.
