Field Guide

Reptiles and Amphibians

Showing 11 - 16 of 16 results
Image of American Bullfrog
American Bullfrog
Lithobates catesbeianus (formerly Rana catesbeiana)
The American bullfrog is Missouri’s largest frog. This common species is easy to hear on warm nights when the males call a deep, sonorous “jug-a-rum, jug-a-rum” that can be heard from half a mile away.
Image of a green treefrog
Green Treefrog
Hyla cinerea (syn. Dryophytes cinereus)
The bright green treefrog hides perfectly among cattail leaves, where it rests until evening. Then it begins hunting for insects. In Missouri, it occurs mostly in the Bootheel.
Eastern gartersnake
Eastern Gartersnake and Red-Sided Gartersnake
Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis (eastern gartersnake) and T. s. parietalis (red-sided gartersnake)
The eastern gartersnake and red-sided gartersnake are Missouri's most common gartersnakes. The color is variable, but there are normally three yellowish stripes, one down the back and one on each side. There are narrow black bars between the scales along the upper lip.
Photo of a yellow mud turtle.
Yellow Mud Turtle
Kinosternon flavescens
The yellow mud turtle is a small, uniformly colored, semiaquatic turtle restricted to certain counties in west-central, northeastern, and southwestern Missouri. It is an endangered species in our state.
Photo of a southern painted turtle basking on a log.
Southern Painted Turtle
Chrysemys dorsalis
The southern painted turtle is small and has a prominent yellow, orange, or red lengthwise stripe down the middle of the upper shell. In Missouri, this aquatic turtle is found only in the Bootheel region.
Ozark Hellbender
Ozark Hellbender
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi
The eastern hellbender is a large, entirely aquatic salamander with a wide, flat head, small, lidless eyes, and soft folds of skin on the sides. In Missouri, it occurs only in the southern Ozark Highlands in spring-fed sections of the Black River system and North Fork of the White River system.
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.