Reptiles and Amphibians
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Plestiodon anthracinus pluvialis
Description
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.
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Scientific Name
Pantherophis obsoletus
Description
The western ratsnake, a glossy black snake, is one of Missouri’s largest and most familiar snakes. Its size and dark color make it seem imposing, but it is as harmless to humans as it is bad news for rodents.
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Scientific Name
Plethodon angusticlavius
Description
The Ozark zigzag salamander is small and slender, with a narrow, somewhat lobed back stripe that can be yellow, orange, or red. This woodland species lives in Missouri’s southwestern counties along the Arkansas border.
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Scientific Name
Plethodon albagula
Description
The western slimy salamander is a black to blue-black salamander irregularly marked with silvery flecks. It occurs in the Ozark Highlands and the Lincoln Hills north of the Missouri River. True to its name, it secretes a thick substance that sticks to skin like glue.
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Scientific Name
Eurycea lucifuga
Description
The cave salamander is a common amphibian of the Ozark Plateau. It lives in caves, springs, and rocky streams. Recognize it by its normally bright orange skin dotted with dark brown or black spots.
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Scientific Name
Ambystoma opacum
Description
The marbled salamander is a small, stout salamander with silvery, white, or gray saddle-shaped markings on its body from head to tail. They occur in the southeastern half of the state and are seldom encountered except during the autumn breeding season.
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Scientific Name
Ambystoma annulatum
Description
The ringed salamander is secretive, spending most of its time under logs or rocks or in burrows. The rings never completely encircle the body. It occurs in the southwestern and central Missouri Ozarks, and in the river hills of the Missouri River in eastern Missouri.
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Scientific Name
Ambystoma maculatum
Description
The spotted salamander is one of Missouri's six species of mole salamanders. It is slate black with two irregular rows of rounded yellow spots from the head onto the tail. It occurs in forests in the southern two-thirds of the state.
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Scientific Name
Heterodon nasicus
Description
The plains hog-nosed snake has probably been extirpated from Missouri. It has a sharply upturned snout, black pigment on the underside of the tail, and was only known from the loess hill region of extreme northwest Missouri.
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Scientific Name
Pantherophis ramspotti
Description
The western foxsnake is a moderately large snake with distinct brown blotches. In Missouri, it is rare and found only in our far northwestern counties.
See Also
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.