The web-footed coqui, stream coqui, Puerto Rican stream frog, Karl's robber frog or coquí palmeado (''Eleutherodactylus karlschmidti''), is a possibly

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

Puerto Rican frog species in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It was first described by Chapman Grant in 1931, and was named after herpetologist

Karl Patterson Schmidt Karl Patterson Schmidt (June 19, 1890 – September 26, 1957) was an American herpetologist. Family Schmidt was the son of George W. Schmidt and Margaret Patterson Schmidt. George W. Schmidt was a German professor, who, at the time of Karl ...

. It is the largest ''Eleutherodactylus'' species of Puerto Rico.

Description

The maximum size is in snout–vent length. The overall appearance is stocky. The head is wider than the body. The eyes are large and protruding. The tympanum is small but distinct. The limbs are strong and relatively short. The fingers and the toes bear large discs. The fingers have no webbing whereas the toes are extensively webbed (the only

coquí Coquí is a common name for several species of small frogs in the genus ''Eleutherodactylus'' native to Puerto Rico. They are Onomatopoeia, onomatopoeically named for the very loud mating call which the males of two species, the common coqui an ...

to do so). Skin is warty dorsally and smooth ventrally. Dorsal coloration consists of green, yellow, and black marbling. A yellow line runs between the eyes. Another yellow line touches the lip and extends backward to the tympanum. A vague transverse band is located at the shoulders and another, more distinct one half-way along the dorsum. The sides and lower part are marbled gray to partly plain gray. Males have bi-lobed vocal sac. Males advertisement call is loud and sonorous.

Habitat and conservation

''Eleutherodactylus karlschmidti'' is an aquatic species that occurs in mountain streams at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It prefers rocky torrents in closed mesic forests. Males call from boulders, banks, and waterfalls. Development is direct (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). This species was once abundant in eastern Puerto Rico as well as in the western mountains. Its former range included the

El Yunque National Forest El Yunque National Forest (), formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest (or ''Bosque Nacional del Caribe''), is a forest located in northeastern Puerto Rico. While there are both temperate and tropical rainforests in other states and terri ...

. However, the latest record is from 1988, possibly even earlier, despite repeated surveys. It is almost certainly extinct. The likely reason is a combination of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis and climate change. Also invasive predators might have played a role.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q309103 karlschmidti Amphibians of Puerto Rico Endemic fauna of Puerto Rico Extinct animals of the United States Amphibians described in 1931 Taxa named by Chapman Grant

Description

Habitat and conservation

See also

References