Field Guide

Reptiles and Amphibians

Showing 1 - 4 of 4 results
Image of a gray treefrog
Gray Treefrog and Cope's Gray Treefrog
Hyla versicolor (Gray Treefrog) and Hyla chrysoscelis (Cope's Gray Treefrog)
Sticky pads on fingers and toes enable Missouri's two gray treefrogs to climb and rest on vertical surfaces. You might occasionally see one resting on the siding of your house, if you live near suitable treefrog habitat.
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.
Photo of a four-toed salamander on a mossy rock.
Four-Toed Salamander
Hemidactylium scutatum
A glacial relict in Missouri’s eastern Ozarks, the four-toed salamander lives among mosses in heavily forested streams and creeks and sinkhole ponds. It has a thick, round tail that is constricted at its base. There are four toes on each limb.
A black salamander with dark silver bands on its tail walks on a concrete pad.
Marbled Salamander
Ambystoma opacum
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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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.