Field Guide

Reptiles and Amphibians

Showing 61 - 68 of 68 results
Great Plains skink resting on a rock
Great Plains Skink
Plestiodon obsoletus
The Great Plains skink is a large, tan or light brown lizard with most of the scales edged in black, making it look speckled. These markings may form irregular lines along the back and sides. In Missouri, it's found only in our far western and southwestern counties.
little brown skink
Little Brown Skink
Scincella lateralis
The little brown skink is a ground-dweller with dark brown or black stripes and speckling along the sides. Hiking in the woods, you may hear these small lizards scurrying through dead leaves, but you seldom see them. Occurs nearly statewide.
Image of a northern prairie skink
Prairie Skink
Plestiodon septentrionalis
Missouri has two subspecies of prairie skinks. They both have many stripes and a long tail. In Missouri, these lizards are rare. Northern prairie skinks occur only in our northwest counties. Southern prairie skinks are known only from Barton County, near Kansas.
Adult southern coal skink resting on a flat limestone rock
Southern Coal Skink
Plestiodon anthracinus pluvialis
The southern coal skink is secretive. It lives in the southern half of Missouri, excluding the Bootheel. Adults are small, shiny, and brownish, with a wide, coal-black line on the side. Juveniles are black with faint lines down the back and sides and a blue-gray tail.
Image of a lined snake
Lined Snake
Tropidoclonion lineatum
The lined snake looks similar to a gartersnake. It is brown to grayish brown, with three lighter-colored stripes down the length of its body and a double row of half-moon-shaped markings along the belly. It occurs mainly in the northwestern part of the state, along the northern border, with a separate population in the St. Louis area.
Oklahoma salamander, with external gills, resting among rocks in an aquarium
Oklahoma Salamander
Eurycea tynerensis (formerly E. multiplicata griseogaster)
The Oklahoma salamander is small, dark, and almost never seen in a fully adult form without gills. Formerly called the gray-bellied salamander, in Missouri, it's found only in the central and southwestern Ozarks.
Cajun chorus frog resting on damp tan vegetation
Cajun Chorus Frog
Pseudacris fouquettei
The Cajun chorus frog is a small tan to brown frog with dark dorsal stripes that are narrow or often broken into a series of dashes or spots. It occurs in a few counties in southeastern Missouri.
Dusty hog-nosed snake curled on a sand prairie
Dusty Hog-Nosed Snake
Heterodon gloydi
In Missouri, the dusty hog-nosed snake is found only in a few southeastern counties. This nonvenomous snake is a species of conservation concern. Like other hog-nosed snakes, it has several interesting defensive behaviors.
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About Reptiles and Amphibians in Missouri

Missouri’s herptiles comprise 43 amphibians and 75 reptiles. Amphibians, including salamanders, toads, and frogs, are vertebrate animals that spend at least part of their life cycle in water. They usually have moist skin, lack scales or claws, and are ectothermal (cold-blooded), so they do not produce their own body heat the way birds and mammals do. Reptiles, including turtles, lizards, and snakes, are also vertebrates, and most are ectothermal, but unlike amphibians, reptiles have dry skin with scales, the ones with legs have claws, and they do not have to live part of their lives in water.