Field Guide

Reptiles and Amphibians

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 results
Photo of a western slimy salamander
Western Slimy Salamander
Plethodon albagula
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.
Image of a cave salamander
Cave Salamander
Eurycea lucifuga
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.
Photo of researcher holding a gilled siren
Western Lesser Siren
Siren intermedia nettingi
The western lesser siren is an eel-like, aquatic salamander with external gills, small eyes, small forelimbs with four toes, and no hind limbs. In Missouri, it’s found mostly in the Bootheel and northward in counties near the Mississippi River.
Photo of a long-tailed salamander on a rotten log.
Eastern Long-Tailed Salamander and Dark-Sided Salamander
Eurycea longicauda longicauda (eastern dark-sided salamander) and E. l. melanopleura (dark-sided salamander)
The eastern long-tailed salamander and closely related dark-sided salamander are agile and can escape predators by using their tails for quick jumps. They live in the southern and eastern parts of Missouri.
Red River mudpuppy resting on a gravel stream bottom
Common Mudpuppy
Necturus maculosus maculosus
Mudpuppies are aquatic salamanders that have plumelike external gills throughout their entire lives. They’re found in the southern half and along the eastern edge of Missouri.
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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.