Animals

The island of Puerto Rico was formed by volcanic activity during the Triassic period. Thrusting out of the Caribbean sea it had no land bridge to any continent. Consequently, the animals of Puerto Rico (and El Yunque National Forest) originally arrived on the island by either swimming, floating or flying, and thus were smaller in size than those found on large continents. The largest mammalian animals in the forest are two species of rats, eleven bats, the house mouse and the mongoose.

Big Brown Bat(10)
Brazilian Free-tailed Bat (07)
Brown Flower Bat (06)
Feral Cat (08)
Feral Dog (06)
Greater Antillean Long-tongued Bat (04)
House Mouse (08)
Red Fig-eating Bat (04)
Small Indian Mongoose (02)

There are many types of reptiles in El Yunque, some of which you are likely to see on your visit to the forest. Among these are various types of lizards, anoles, geckos and snakes.  

Barred Anole (07)
Brook's House Gecko(11)
Common Blind Snake (03)
Common Dwarf Gecko (06)
Common Worm Snake (10)
Emerald Anole (04)
Giant Anole (02)
Puerto Rican Boa (02)
Puerto Rican Crested Anole (09)
Puerto Rican Galliwasp (09)
Puerto Rican Garden Snake (10)
Puerto Rican Ground Lizard (10)
Puerto Rican Racer (07)
Puerto Rico Upland Gecko (03)
Puerto Rican Wetlands Blindsnake (09)
Pygmy Anole (07)
Sharp-mouthed Lizard (06)
Upland Grass Anole (05)
Yellow-chinned Anole (05)

El Yunque is home to 13 of the 17 species of coquis (tree frogs), native to Puerto Rico, among other amphibians.

Antillean Coqui (07)
Common Coqui (08)
Cricket Coqui (05)
Dwarf Coqui (06)
Forest Coqui (05)
Giant Toad (06)
Grass Coqui (07)
Hedrick’s Coqui (02)
Locust Coqui (08)
Mottled Coqui (10)
North American Bull Frog (03)
Richmond's Coqui (09)
Web-footed Coqui (07)
Whistling Coqui (04)
White-lipped Frog (03)
Wrinkled Coqui (04)

Insects and other invertebrates found in leaf litter are important components in decomposition, nutrient cycling, and food webs.  Below is a small listing of some of those you may see in El Yunque.

Flannel Moth (03)
Flower Fly (05)
Ground Beetle (04)
Little Fire Ant (10)
Puerto Rican Tarantula (06)
Sawfly (04)
Tarantula Hawk (10)
Theotima minutissimus (08)
Tree Snail (09)
Velvet Worm (02)
Walking Stick (02)
Whip-scorpion (06)

The rivers and streams of El Yunque provide aquatic habitats for organisms that are important elements of the forest’s biological diversity, including: seven species of fish, nine species of freshwater shrimp, and 1 species of freshwater crab.

Stream invertebrates are important year- round consumers of forest leaf litter and operate as miniature water treatment plants.

All of these species can be commonly found in any of the rivers or streams of the forest, but they are particularly easy to spot in the Mameyes River (Angelito Trail, Puente Roto, La Coca Trail). The Mameyes River is the only river in the Island that runs un-interrupted from its origin to the sea.  Therefore the Mameyes system enjoys the highest natural aquatic diversity and species richness of any Forest watershed.

Fish  
American Eel (02)
Big-mouth Sleeper(04)
Flathead Minnow (09)
Guppy(11)
Green Swordtail (09)
Mountain Mullet (03)
Sirajo Goby (04)
Spinycheek Sleeper (08)
Yellow River Goby (08)

Aquatic Invertebrates
Big-clawed Shrimp (03)
Caribbean Dwarf Filter Shrimp(11)
Freshwater Crab (02)
Yellow-nosed Shrimp (06)

El Yunque National Forest provides habitat for 97 bird species of which 45 are migratory.

Adelaide's Warbler (09)
American Redstart (08)
Antillean Euphonia (08)
Bananaquit (07)
Black Swift (03)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (08)
Black-whiskered Vireo (07)
Broad-winged Hawk (04)
Elfin Woods Warbler (02)
Gray Kingbird (04)
Green Mango (05)
Green-backed Heron (10)
Merlin (10)
Northern Parula(11)
Orange-fronted Parakeet (09)
Pearly-eyed Thrasher (05)
Puerto Rican Bullfinch (03)
Puerto Rican Emerald (05)
Puerto Rican Flycatcher (09)
Puerto Rican Lizard Cuckoo (02)
Puerto Rican Parrot
Puerto Rican Screech-Owl (03)
Puerto Rican Tanager (08)
Puerto Rican Tody (02)
Puerto Rican Vireo (10)
Puerto Rican Woodpecker (05)
Red-legged Thrush (06)
Red-tailed Hawk (05)
Ruddy Quail-Dove (07)
Scaly-naped Pigeon (07)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (06)
Spotted Sandpiper (03)
Stripe-headed Tanager (08)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (09)
Yellow-crowned Night Heron (11)
Zenaida Dove (06)