The elfin woods warbler is a species of bird endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is local and uncommon. Discovered in 1968 and described in 1972, it is the most recently described New World warbler.
The Santa Cruz cypress is a species of North American tree within the Cypress family. The species is endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains within the Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties of west-central California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the species on the Endangered Species Act in 1987 due to increasing threats from habitat loss and disruption of natural forest fire regimes. In 2016, the conservation status of the Santa Cruz cypress changed to Threatened. The cited reasoning was a decrease in threats against their habitat.
The fauna of Puerto Rico is similar to other island archipelago faunas, with high endemism, and low, skewed taxonomic diversity. Bats are the only extant native terrestrial mammals in Puerto Rico. All other terrestrial mammals in the area were introduced by humans, and include species such as cats, goats, sheep, the small Indian mongoose, and escaped monkeys. Marine mammals include dolphins, manatees, and whales. Of the 349 bird species, about 120 breed in the archipelago, and 47.5% are accidental or rare.
Leptocereus grantianus (sebucan) is a sprawling or suberect, nearly spineless cactus, reaching up to 2 meters in height and 3 to 5 centimeters in diameter. Its elongated stems have from three to five prominent ribs with broadly scalloped edges. Ribs of young joints are thin, and the small areoles or spine-bearing areas may bear from one to three minute, nearly black spines which disappear as the joints grow older. The flowers are solitary at terminal areoles, from 3 to 6 centimeters long, and nocturnal. The outer perianth segments are linear, green, and tipped by an areole like those of the tube and ovary. The inner perianth segments are numerous, cream-colored, oblong-obvate, obtuse, and about 8 millimeters long. The fruit is subglobose to ellipsoid and about 4 centimeters in diameter.
Varronia rupicola, synonym Cordia rupicola, commonly known as the Puerto Rico manjack, is a critically endangered species of flowering shrub in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the islands of Puerto Rico and Anegada.
Calyptronoma rivalis is a pinnately compound leaved palm species that is native to the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Its common names include palma de manaca and Puerto Rican manac.
Callicarpa ampla, also called the capa rose, is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is found in Puerto Rico in the Caribbean region. It is threatened by habitat loss and is a critically endangered plant species.
Eugenia haematocarpa is a rare species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico. It is classified as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and there has been a plan for its recovery in place for some years. Its common names include uvillo and Luquillo Mountain stopper.
Juglans jamaicensis, the West Indian walnut, nogal, or palo de nuez, is a species of walnut in the Juglandaceae family native to the Greater Antilles.
Myrcia paganii is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico.
Pleodendron macranthum (chupacallos) is a rare species of tree in the family Canellaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where there are only three tiny populations remaining. Two individual plants are located in El Yunque and 8 to 10 plants remain in Río Abajo State Forest. This tree is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Schoepfia arenaria is an extremely rare species of hemiparasitic flowering plant in the Schoepfiaceae family. It grows as a small, multi-trunked tree. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is found growing along the northern coast. A local Spanish vernacular name recorded for this tree is araña ('spider'). It has no common name in English.
Styrax portoricensis, locally known as palo de jazmin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Styracaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico. It is one of the rarest endemic trees of Puerto Rico and is known to occur only in the northeastern Luquillo Mountains and the north-central Cayey Mountains.
Laguna Tortuguero Natural Reserve is a natural reservoir located between the municipalities of Vega Baja and Manatí in Puerto Rico.
Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi, or the Puerto Rican wetland frog, is an endangered species of coqui, a frog species, endemic to Puerto Rico. It was discovered in 2005 by Neftalí Rios, and was named after Puerto Rican herpetologist Juan A. Rivero, in honor of his contributions to Puerto Rican herpetology.
Piñones State Forest,, and named after the Casuarina, locally called Piñones, is a timberland forest near one of the longest beaches in Puerto Rico. It is located in Torrecilla Baja barrio in the municipality of Loíza. It is a tourist attraction and is managed by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.
The Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk, falcón de sierra or gavilán pecho rufo in Spanish, is an endemic subspecies of the North American sharp-shinned hawk, occurring only in Puerto Rico. Discovered in 1912 and described as a distinct sub-species, it has been placed on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species because of its rapidly dwindling population in Puerto Rico. It can be found in the Toro Negro State Forest.
Cornutia obovata is a rare species of tree in the mint family, and formerly considered a member of the verbena family. It is endemic to forested slopes in Puerto Rico, where its common names are capá jigüerilla, nigua, and palo de nigua. When it was added to the endangered species list of the United States in 1988 there were only seven individuals known to remain in the wild. By 1998 there were eight plants known. This is considered one population divided amongst a few locations in the mountain forests of the island.
Vernonia proctorii is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Proctor's ironweed. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where there are two populations. It is threatened by the destruction of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Roy Orlo Woodbury was an American botanist and researcher.
