Kansas Reptiles

Reptiles

	Are Vertebrate animals. They have an internal bony skeleton.
	Are cold-blooded. They cannot maintain their body temperature by internal means.
	Have a dry, scaly skin or a shell.
	Lay eggs with a tough outer shell, or have live birth. The eggs have an internal membrane called the amnion, which helps protect the developing embryo from injury and drying out. In some species of snakes, the eggs hatch internally and the young are born live.
	Lay their eggs on land.

Have claws on their toes (excepting snakes).

Currently, there are about 6,500 recognized species of reptiles in the world, divided into 5 living orders. Within Kansas 67 species are recorded from 16 families in 2 orders.

Classification of living organisms has undergone a profound revolution within the last thirty years due to the advent of DNA analysis and the new taxonomic discipline of cladistics, which does not necessarily use the classical Linnean hierarchy (Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species) to sort out how creatures are related to each other. The position of turtles, for instance, is a contentious issue currently. For more information, see the link to the Tree of Life website in the resource list.

The species list below is based on "A Checklist of the Vertebrate Animals of Kansas", 3rd edition, 2005, by George Potts and Joseph Collins. This publication is available from the Kansas University Natural History Museum, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045-7163.

For a pdf version of the Kansas list, click here .
(On a Windows system, download the file by right clicking on the link and choose "Save Target As" to save it to your hard drive, then open it from there. You will need Acrobat Reader to view this file. If you don't have that software already, you can get it for free from Adobe.)
In this list, the scientific name of each species follows the common name and is written in italics.

	There is a species portrait page done for the Ornate Box Turtle.
	Range maps and population status for the seven reptile species on the Kansas Threatened & Endangered Species list may be found in the Kansas Wildlife Refuge.
	Basic information on all Kansas snakes may be found within the Snake's Burrow!

Lizards
(15 Species in Kansas)

Family Crotaphytidae - Collared Lizards Eastern Collared Lizard - Crotaphytus collaris

Family Phrynosomatidae - Prairie, Earless & Horned Lizards Lesser Earless Lizard - Holbrookia maculata
Texas Horned Lizard - Phrynosoma cornutum
Prairie Lizard - Sceloporus consobrinus

Family Scincidae - Skinks Coal Skink - Eumeces anthracinus
Five-lined Skink - Eumeces fasciatus
Broadhead Skink - Eumeces laticeps
Great Plains Skink - Eumeces obsoletus Southern Prairie Skink - Eumeces obtusirostris
Northern Prairie Skink - Eumeces septentrionalis
Ground Skink - Scincella lateralis

Family Lacertidae - Wall Lizards Western Green Lacerta - Lacerta bilineata
Italian Wall Lizard - Podarcis sicula

Family Teiidae - Whiptails Six-lined Racerunner - Aspidoscelis sexlineata

Family Anguidae - Glass Lizards Western Slender Glass Lizard - Ophisaurus attenuatus

Snakes(38 Species in Kansas)

Family Leptotyphlopidae - Slender Blind Snakes New Mexico Blind Snake - Leptotyphlops dissectis

Family Colubridae - Harmless Egg-laying Snakes Eastern Glossy Snake - Arizona elegans
Eastern Racer - Coluber constrictor
Prairie Kingsnake - Lampropeltis calligaster
Common Kingsnake - Lampropeltis getula
Milk Snake - Lampropeltis triangulum
Coachwhip - Masticophis flagellum
Rough Green Snake - Opheodrys aestivus
Great Plains Rat Snake - Pantherophis emoryi
Western Rat Snake - Pantherophis obsoletus
Gopher Snake - Pituophis catenifer
Longnose Snake - Rhinocheilus lecontei
Ground Snake - Sonora semiannulata
Flathead Snake - Tantilla gracilis
Plains Blackhead Snake - Tantilla nigriceps

Family Dipsadidae - Slender Rear-fanged Snakes Western Worm Snake - Carphophis vermis
Ringneck Snake - Diadophis punctatus Night Snake - Hypsiglena torquata

Family Natricidae - Harmless Live-bearing Snakes
Plainbelly Water Snake - Nerodia erythrogaster
Diamondback Water Snake - Nerodia rhombifer
Northern Water Snake - Nerodia sipedon Graham's Crayfish Snake - Regina grahamii
Brown Snake - Storeria dekayi
Redbelly Snake - Storeria occipitomaculata
Checkered Garter Snake - Thamnophis marcianus
Western Ribbon Snake - Thamnophis proximus
Plains Garter Snake - Thamnophis radix
Common Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis
Lined Snake - Tropidoclonion lineatum
Rough Earth Snake - Virginia striatula
Smooth Earth Snake - Virginia valeriae

Family Xenodontidae - Robust Rear-fanged Snakes
Western Hognose Snake - Heterodon nasicus
Eastern Hognose Snake - Heterodon platirhinos

Family Crotalidae - Pit Vipers Copperhead - Agkistrodon contortrix
Cottonmouth - Agkistrodon piscivorus
Timber Rattlesnake - Crotalus horridus
Prairie Rattlesnake - Crotalus viridis
Massasauga - Sistrurus catenatus

Turtles
(15 Species in Kansas)

Family Chelydridae - Snapping Turtles
Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina
Alligator Snapping Turtle - Macrochelys temminckii

Family Kinosternidae - Mud & Musk Turtles Yellow Mud Turtle - Kinosternon flavescens
Common Musk Turtle - Sternotherus odoratus

Family Emydidae - Box & Basking Turtles
Northern Painted Turtle - Chrysemys picta
Common Map Turtle - Graptemys geographica
Ouachita Map Turtle - Graptemys ouachitensis
False Map Turtle - Graptemys pseudogeographica
River Cooter - Pseudemys concinna
Eastern Box Turtle - Terrapene carolina
Ornate Box Turtle - Terrapene ornata
Pond Slider - Trachemys scripta

Family Trionychidae - Softshell Turtles Smooth Softshell - Apalone mutica
Spiny Softshell - Apalone spinifera

For more information on reptiles, see these resources:

	For detailed information on the distribution of reptiles in Kansas, visit the Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas.
	If you have a strong interest in Great Plains reptiles, you may wish to join the Kansas Herpetological Society.
	An alternate taxonomy for Kansas reptiles may be found in the "Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico" by the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. This paper is available for download here.
	Visit the Tree of Life website to see how cladistic analysis presents the classification of animals. Got From: http://www.gpnc.org/reptiles.htm