News in Brief Animals

Coquí frogs got smaller, squeakier as climate warmed

Amphibians on a Puerto Rican mountain changed chirps over 23 years

GETTING WARM  Puerto Rico’s iconic coquí frogs may be chirping a little differently as climate warms.

Dante Fenolio/Science Source

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Climate change might also mean a bit of frog-call change.

Male coquí frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui) along a mountain slope in Puerto Rico have increased the pitch of their “coquí” calls a bit and shortened their chirps compared with frogs at the same altitudes 23 years earlier.