Mammals

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. Please visit our website here for full descriptions of all species:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/elyunque/learning/nature-science/?cid=fsbdev3_042978