This list of Kansas

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s includes the

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

s and

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s found in the US state of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Turtles

Kansas is home to 15 species of turtles. Family Chelydridae – snapping turtles *

Alligator snapping turtle The alligator snapping turtle (''Macrochelys temminckii'') is a large species of turtle in the family Chelydridae. The species is native to freshwater habitats in the United States. ''M. temminckii'' is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in ...

Common snapping turtle The common snapping turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') is a species of large freshwater turtle in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia ...

Family Kinosternidae – mud and musk turtles * Common musk turtle (stinkpot) *

Yellow mud turtle The yellow mud turtle (''Kinosternon flavescens''), also commonly known as the yellow-necked mud turtle, is a species of mud turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is endemic to the Central United States and Mexico. Distribution *North ...

Family Emydidae – basking and box turtles *

Painted turtle The painted turtle (''Chrysemys picta'') is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They have been shown to prefer l ...

* Common map turtle *

Ouachita map turtle The Ouachita map turtle (''Graptemys ouachitensis'') is a species of turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''Graptemys ouachitensis ouachitensis'' Cagle, 1953 * ''Graptemys ouachitensis sabinensis'' Cagle ...

* False map turtle * River cooter * Ornate box turtle *

Eastern box turtle The eastern box turtle (''Terrapene carolina carolina'') is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles normally called box turtles. ''T. c. carolina'' is native to the eastern part of the United States. The eastern box turtle ...

Pond slider The pond slider (''Trachemys scripta'') is a species of common, medium-sized, semiaquatic turtle. Three subspecies are described, the most recognizable of which is the red-eared slider (''T. s. elegans''), which is popular in the pet trade and h ...

turtle Family Trionychidae – softshell turtles *

Spiny softshell turtle The spiny softshell turtle (''Apalone spinifera'') is a species of softshell turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtle species in North America. Both the common name, spiny softshell, and the specific name, ''spinifera'' (spine-bearing), r ...

Smooth softshell turtle The smooth softshell turtle (''Apalone mutica'') is a species of softshell turtle of the family Trionychidae. The species is endemic to North America. Geographic range ''A. mutica'' is native to North America. It is distributed throughout the ...

Lizards

There are 16 species of lizards in Kansas. – Kansas Herp Atlas Anguidae – lateral fold lizards *

Slender glass lizard The slender glass lizard (''Ophisaurus attenuatus'') is a legless lizard in the Glass Lizard subfamily (Anguinae) The species is endemic to the United States. Two subspecies are recognized. The lizard was originally believed to be a subspecies ...

Crotaphytidae – collared and leopard lizards * Eastern collared lizard Gekkonidae – geckos *

Mediterranean gecko The Mediterranean house gecko (''Hemidactylus turcicus'') is a species of house gecko common to the Mediterranean area which has spread to many parts of the world. It is commonly referred to as the Turkish gecko as represented in its Latin name ...

(introduced) Lacertidae – lacertas (wall and true lizards) *

Western green lizard The western green lizard (''Lacerta bilineata'') is a lizard of the family Lacertidae. Etymology The genus name ''Lacerta'' and the species name ''bilineata'' are Latin words respectively meaning “lizard” and “with two lines”, with refer ...

(introduced) *

Italian wall lizard The Italian wall lizard or ruin lizard (''Podarcis siculus'', from the Greek meaning agile and feet) is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. ''P. siculus'' is native to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Italy, Serbia Serbia ...

(introduced) Phrynosomatidae – spiny lizards * Lesser earless lizard * Texas horned lizard *

Prairie lizard Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

(''Sceloporus consobrinus'') Scincidae – skinks *

Coal skink ''Plestiodon anthracinus'', the coal skink, is a species of lizard which is endemic to North America. Description It grows to in total length with a maximum snout to vent length (SVL) of . It is a four-lined skink whose light stripes extend ...

Skin colored black dotted skink Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different de ...

* Five-lined skink *

Broadhead skink The broad-headed skink or broadhead skink (''Plestiodon laticeps'') is species of lizard, endemic to the southeastern United States. The broadhead skink occurs in sympatry with the five-lined skink (''Plestiodon fasciatus'') and Southeastern f ...

* Great Plains skink * Southern prairie skink (''Plestiodon obtusirostris'') * Northern prairie skink (''Plestiodon septentrionalis'') * Ground skink Teiidae – whiptails *

Six-lined racerunner The six-lined racerunner (''Aspidoscelis sexlineatus'') is a species of lizard native to the United States and Mexico. Geographic range The six-lined racerunner is found throughout much of the southeastern and south-central portion of the United ...

Venomous species

Cottonmouth ''Agkistrodon piscivorus'' is a species of pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth), and is native to the southeastern United States. As ...

(''Agkistrodon piscivorus'') *

Copperhead Copperhead may refer to: Snakes * ''Agkistrodon contortrix'', or copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America * ''Austrelaps'', or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Tas ...

(''Agkistrodon contortrix'') * Western diamondback rattlesnake (''Crotalus atrox'') (very rare) * Timber rattlesnake species in need of conservation (''Crotalus horridus'') * Prairie rattlesnake (''Crotalus viridis'') * Massasauga (''Sistrurus catenatus'')

Non-venomous species

* Eastern glossy snake (''Arizona elegans'') *

Western worm snake ''Carphophis vermis'' (common name western worm snake) is a species of small, nonvenomous colubrid snake native to the United States. Etymology The specific name, ''vermis'', is Latin for "worm". Physical description Western worm snakes have ...

(''Carphophis vermis'') * Eastern racer (''Coluber constrictor'') *

Ringneck snake ''Diadophis punctatus'', commonly known as the ring-necked snake or ringneck snake, is a harmless species of colubrid snake found throughout much of the United States, central Mexico, and south-eastern Canada. Ring-necked snakes are secretive, no ...

(''Diadophis punctatus'') *

Western hognose snake The western hognose snake (''Heterodon nasicus'') is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to North America. Etymology The specific name, ''nasicus'', is from the Latin '' nasus'' ("nose"), in reference to the upt ...

(''Heterodon nasicus'') *

Eastern hognose snake The eastern hog-nosed snake (''Heterodon platirhinos''), also known as the spreading adderAlbert Hazen WWright, A.H., and species:Anna Allen WA.A. Wright (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. (in 2 volumes). Ithaca and L ...

(''Heterodon platirhinos'') *

Night snake The night snake (''Hypsiglena torquata'') is a species of rear-fanged colubrid. It is found from British Columbia, Canada through the western United States to Mexico. Subspecies previously recognized within ''H. torquata'' *'' Hypsiglena torq ...

(''Hypsiglena torquata'')^MT * Prairie kingsnake (''Lampropeltis calligaster'') *

Common kingsnake ''Lampropeltis getula'', commonly known as the eastern kingsnake,Roger Conant (herpetologist), Conant R (1975). ''A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition''. (First published in 1958). Boston: ...

(''Lampropeltis getula'') * Milk snake (''Lampropeltis triangulum'') * New Mexico blind snake (''Leptotyphlops dissectus'') * Coachwhip (''Masticophis flagellum'') * Plainbelly water snake (''Nerodia erythrogaster'') * Diamondback water snake (''Nerodia rhombifer'') * Northern water snake (''Nerodia sipedon'') * Rough green snake (''Opheodrys aestivus'') * Great Plains rat snake (''Pantherophis emoryi'') *

Western rat snake ''Pantherophis obsoletus'', also known commonly as the western rat snake, black rat snake, pilot black snake, or simply black snake, is a nonvenomous species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to central North America. Th ...

(''Elaphe obsoleta'') * Gopher snake (''Pituophis catenifer'') * Graham's crayfish snake (''Regina grahamii'') * Longnose snake (''Rhinocheilus lecontei'') * Ground snake (''Sonora semiannulata'') * Brown snake (''Storeria dekayi'') * Redbelly snake species in need of conservation (''Storeria occipitomaculata'') * Flathead snake (''Tantilla gracilis'') * Plains blackhead snake (''Tantilla nigriceps'') *

Checkered garter snake The checkered garter snake (''Thamnophis marcianus'') is a species of garter snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America. Etymology The spe ...

(''Thamnophis marcianus'') * Western ribbon snake (''Thamnophis proximus'') *

Plains garter snake The plains garter snake (''Thamnophis radix'') is a species of garter snake native to most of the central United States as far north as Canada and as far south as Texas. It has a distinctive orange or yellow stripe from its head to tail, and the ...

(''Thamnophis radix'') * Common garter snake (''Thamnophis sirtalis'') * Lined snake (''Tropidoclonion lineatum'') *

Rough earth snake ''Virginia striatula'' (formerly ''Haldea striatula''), commonly called the rough earth snake, is a species of nonvenomous Natricinae, natricine colubrid snake native to the Southeastern United States. Taxonomy The species was first described ...

(''Virginia striatula'') *

Smooth earth snake The smooth earth snake (''Virginia valeriae'') is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid snake native to the eastern half of the United States. Etymology The specific name or epithet, ''valeriae'', is in honor of Valeria Biddle Blaney (1 ...

(''Virginia valeriae'') ^MT ''This snake has enlarged grooved teeth near the back of the upper jaw and secretes a mildly toxic saliva to incapacitate its prey. However, it is not considered dangerous to humans.''

References

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