Herpetology

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Herpetology

• The Study of Reptiles and Amphibians
• Survey of Kansas Herpetofauna

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Reptiles and Amphibians

• Snakes
• Lizards
• Turtles
• Crocodilians

• Frogs
• Toads
• Salamanders

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Herps are Exothermic

• In the past called cold-blooded
• Rely on the environment for heat
• Requires less energy
• Need less food
• Hibernation

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Amphibians

• Frogs
• Toads
• Salamanders
• Caecilians

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Characteristics of Amphibians

• Moist skin
• No scales or shells or claws
• Need to keep skin wet or moist

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Reproduction of Amphibians

• Salamanders
• Internal fertilization
• Frogs and Toads
• External fertilization
• Eggs have NO shell
• Hatch into tadpoles

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Metamorphosis

• Tadpoles
• Aquatic - gills
• Frogs and Toads
• Terrestrial - lungs

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Caecilians

• Legless amphibians
• Found only in tropics

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Salamanders Order Caudata

• All in Kansas are mute

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Tiger Salamander

• Kansas State amphibian

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Smallmouth Salamander

• Diet is mostly earthworms

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Eastern Newt

• Threatened Species, Miami and Linn Co.

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Mudpuppy

• Totally aquatic
• External bushy gills
• Up to 15 inches

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Frogs and ToadsOrder Anura

• More common in Kansas then salamanders

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American Toad

• Belly is spotted

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Woodhouses Toad

• Has not been recorded in Anderson Co. but has in
  Allen, Coffey, Franklin, and Miami
• May interbreed with the American Toad
• Belly not-spotted

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Plains Leopard Frog
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Southern Leopard Frog
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Bullfrog

• Largest frog in state, up to 6 inches

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Reptiles

• Snakes
• Lizards
• Turtles
• Crocodilians

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Characteristics of Reptiles

• Dry scaly skin
• Feet have claws
• Do NOT depend on water like amphibians

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Reproduction

• Most fertilize internally
• Lay eggs on land
• Some bear live young

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Cloaca

• Opening that contains sex organs and excretory
  organs

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Amniotic Egg

• Prevents drying out
• Allows for laying on land

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Turtles

• Order Testudines

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Snapping Turtle

• Kansas Record 32 lbs
• Aquatic
• Will eat about anything

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Alligator Snapping Turtle

• From Florida
• Can reach 175 lbs
• Rare in Kansas

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Common Musk Turtle

• Semi-aquatic
• Active mostly at night
• Gives off a foul musk

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Painted Turtle

• Semi-aquatic

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Common Map Turtle

• Semi-aquatic
• Anderson Co. is one of only 6 were found
• Threatened Species protected by State Law

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River Cooter

• Semi-aquatic
• Large, up to 15 inches
• Not reported in AC, but in Franklin Co.

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Red-eared Slider

• Semi-aquatic

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Eastern Box Turtle

• Terrestrial
• Omnivorous
• No reported in Anderson Co.

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Ornate Box Turtle

• Kansas State Reptile
• Males have red or orange eyes

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Snakes and Lizards

• Order Squamata

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Lizards
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Collared Lizard

• Eats mostly grasshoppers and moths
• Females have red-orange spots during pregnancy

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Texas Horned Lizard

• Sometimes called Horny-toads
• Eats mostly ants and other sm. Insects
• Can squirt blood from its eyes

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Skinks

• Can lose tail to avoid predators

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Coal Skink
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Five-lined Skink
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Broadhead Skink
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Great Plains Skink
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Glass legless Lizard

• Largest lizard in Kansas
• Ear holes
• Will lose tail

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Snakes
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Fear of Snakes

• Ophidiophobia - An unnatural or unfounded fear of
  snakes

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Wildlife Laws Snakes

• It is Illegal to capture or kill snakes without a
  permit

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Snake Physiology and Characteristics

• Clear eye lids
• Not good vision
• Deaf, but can detect vibrations

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Jacobsons Organ

• On roof of mouth
• Snakes taste the air

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Ball Pythons

• Other snakes also have heat sensing pits

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Constricting

• Most snakes in Kansas are constrictors
• They squeeze and suffocate prey
• What do they eat?

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Eating

• Can disconnect top jaw from bottom
• Can swallow prey larger then their head

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Swallowing

• Breathing hole

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Common Snakes of Anderson Co.
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Speckled (Common) Kingsnake
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Prairie Kingsnake
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Great Plains Rat Snake
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Yellow-Bellied Racer
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Juvenile Yellow Bellied Racer
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Rough Green Snake
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Red Milk Snake
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Black (western) Rat Snake
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Juvenile Rat Snake
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Bull (Gopher) Snake
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Coachwhip
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Northern Water Snake
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Ringneck
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Worm Snake
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Brown Snake
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Common Garter Snake
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Plains Garter Snake
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Ribbon Snake
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Venomous Snakes of Anderson County
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Pit Vipers

• Includes Rattlesnakes and Copperheads
• Pits between nostrils and eyes
• heat detectors
• Sense minute temperature changes
• Helps find prey

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Venomous Snake Bite Stats

• About 1 in 1000 is fatal
• 40 of victims are drunk
• In Kansas, 1 death since 1950

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Snake Bite

• What should you do and NOT do?

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Copperhead
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Massasauga Rattlesnake
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Timber Rattlesnake
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Prairie Rattlesnake

• (only in western Kansas)

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Cottonmouth

• AKA Water Moccasin
• Only in SE corner of Kansas

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Coral Snake

• Red to Yellow
• Not in Kansas

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