Since the first known mention of a Northern cottonmouth in 1819, Oklahoma’s list of reptiles and amphibians has grown to include an incredible mix of about 140 species. And while the history of those species extends back to before the 19^th Century, with an understanding of and names given by Native cultures, the state’s archived history of herpetology begins shortly after the Louisiana Purchase. More than 200 years after expeditions by English Americans began, Oklahoma is recognized as one of the top twenty states for reptile and amphibian diversity and hosts a variety of herpetological conservation efforts. 

“Oklahoma has a tremendous diversity of salamanders, frogs, lizards, and snakes,” said Mark Howery, senior biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. “We’re the edge of range for many species. Combined, it makes a great spot for herpetological research.” 

Herpetology 101

The collective study of reptiles and amphibians is known as herpetology. Beyond reviewing the known species of a state or region, herpetologists often study the relatedness of species; examine their anatomy, ecology, physiology, and behavior; and offer insights to their conservation. 

Jena Donnell/ODWC

A Plains box turtle hatchling.

Oklahoma’s native reptile and amphibian diversity includes at least 25 species of salamander, 29 species of frog, one alligator, 18 species of turtle, 16 species of lizard, and 48 species of snake. 

In his career managing and monitoring nongame species, Howery has regularly leaned on findings from reptile and amphibian research and surveys conducted in the state, searching for past records as the need arose. But he recently dove deep into the archives and developed a more complete picture of Oklahoma’s herpetological history. 

“As I’ve gotten older and in my career longer, I appreciate the history of things more. I think it’s a natural progression. Now that I’ve lived some history, I’m curious about the history before me.” 

While there are multiple ways to organize the study of reptiles and amphibians as it has occurred in Oklahoma, Howery focused most on work documented in peer-reviewed publications and museum records. Along with combing through archives of the Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science and specialized journals like Copeia, he pored over previous compilations of herpetological work in the state, including Robert Webb’s “Reptiles of Oklahoma.” Howery sorted this history into three general eras: contributions from early explorers, from scientists emerging around the time of statehood to the 1950s, and from more contemporary researchers. 

Highlights from Oklahoma's History of Herpetology

Early Explorers:  1800s

• 1819: Thomas Nuttall was the first known English-speaking explorer to document observations of amphibians and reptiles in Oklahoma. In the journal describing his time in present-day Oklahoma, the Northern cottonmouth was one of the first mentions of the herpetofauna encountered: “…and is called the water-mockasin, and poisonous black-snake; it is nearly black, two or three feet long, and thick in proportion, the head triangular and compressed at the sides.” Though references to Nuttall’s locations were limited to major landmarks, this entry appears to have been made near where the Kiamichi River meets the Red River in the vicinity of present-day Fort Townson. Also recorded were observations of turtle eggs and prairie racerunners. No reptiles or amphibians were collected or preserved during Nuttall’s travels. 

  

  Grayson Smith/USFWS

  The Northern cottonmouth, or water moccasin, is typically found near permanent water bodies where it hunts for fish, amphibians, and other prey.

• 1820: In the first major government-funded Western expedition since Lewis and Clark, the Long-Bell Expedition travelled from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Rocky Mountains. On the return trip, the parties diverged with Major Stephen Long and botanist Dr. Edwin James attempting to travel along the Red River but inadvertently following the Canadian River; and Captain John Bell and zoologist Thomas Say traveling downstream along the Arkansas River to Fort Smith. Say’s journal on the manners and habits of animals and descriptions was apparently lost but notes were shared in Long’s multi-volume report. Included in the report was the first known collection and description in the English language of an Eastern collared lizard by Say. While in the vicinity of the confluence of the Verdigris and Arkansas rivers near present-day Muskogee, the report notes “A beautiful species of lizard, (agama) is occasionally met with in this territory. It runs with great swiftness.” 
   
• 1849-50: Samuel W. Woodhouse traveled as a physician and naturalist on the U.S. Army survey of the Creek Nation boundaries. A list of reptiles and amphibians encountered was appended to the reports of Captains Sitgreaves and Woodruff, indicating 36 specimens were collected. These specimens were then turned over to Edward Hallowell, a physician and herpetologist stationed at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Hallowell later listed 21 species in a report of Woodhouse’s survey collections. At the time, five species were considered new to science. Of those, only the diamond-backed watersnake collected by Woodhouse in July 1850 in Tulsa County is now considered the first known collected specimen of those described species.    
   
• 1852-1854: Dr. L. A. Edwards, a physician stationed at Fort Townson, collected the first known specimens of the many-ribbed salamander. When Edward Cope of the American Museum of Natural History, now the Smithsonian Institution, described the species as new to science in 1869, the collection location was listed as “Red River, Arkansas.” An examination of the archived specimens and activities of Edwards, published in 1950, indicate the collections were almost wholly from the vicinity of Fort Townson, which operated for 30 years near present-day Fort Townson, Oklahoma. 
   
• 1852: Captain Randolph Marcy led an expedition to find the headwaters of the Red River. Equipped with supplies from Spencer F. Baird of the American Museum of Natural History, Marcy made and submitted several collections of reptiles from Southern and Southwestern Oklahoma and into Texas. Baird and C. F. Girard later described the first known Marcy’s checkered gartersnake, Great Plains ratsnake, and prairie lizard from Marcy’s collections.   
   
• 1894: Edward D. Cope published two notes in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The Eastern collared lizard is mentioned as not having been noted as existing in Missouri: “the nearest localities recorded being the Neosho River, I. T., and the Arkansas River in Western Arkansas.” Later in the same publication, Cope reports “On the Batrachia and Reptilia of the Plains at Latitude 36° 30’” collected by University of Pennsylvania professor A. P. Brown and Dr. Corbusier. Eighteen species were listed from Fort Supply and Hennessy, including the barred tiger salamander, American toad, Plains box turtle, and lined snake.   

The Leading Edge: 1900 - 1950s

• 1902: Albert H. Van Vleet wrote of the 28 snake forms included in the collection of the Oklahoma Geological and Natural History Survey in the agency’s second biennial report. This is considered to be the first paper written about Oklahoma’s herpetofauna by someone studying the taxa in the state. Van Vleet first arrived at the Oklahoma Territorial University, now the University of Oklahoma, in 1898 and established the first territorial museum of zoology, botany, and geology. Fires around 1902 and again in 1918 destroyed much of the early collections. 

Oklahoma's snake community is prominently featured in the state's history of herpetology. Learn more about Oklahoma's nonvenomous snakes with Mike Porter of the Noble Foundation in this Outdoor Oklahoma segment. 

• 1909: H.H. Lane, then head of the University of Oklahoma’s Zoology Department, published an article in Science about an American alligator based on an individual taken from the South Canadian River near Norman. 
  • 2006: Berlin Heck, retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, shared two new early records of American alligator in Oklahoma. The first was from the diary of Henry Harris, mentioning an alligator killed near Clear Lake in 1866; the second observation was from a survey of the Chickasaw Nation in Aug. 1871 along the Washita River near present-day Tishomingo.
     
• 1922: Two papers about Oklahoma turtles were published in the Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science by M. M. Wickham of the Southeastern State Teachers’ College, now Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The first was of an alligator snapping turtle captured in 1915, tagged and released in 1918, and recaptured in 1918 and 1921. The second detailed the release of 16 three-toed box turtles in Durant to track their movements. 
   
• 1924: Arthur I. Ortenburger, an early professor of zoology at the University of Oklahoma, began a series of summer collecting trips for research and inclusion in the teaching museum. (A summary of his notebooks was later shared by Charles Carpenter in 1990.) During his time at the University of Oklahoma, Ortenburger mentored a number of students and established a network of collaborators across the state contributing specimens to the museum. He is regarded by some as the “Father of Oklahoma Herpetology.” Ortenburger’s herpetological publications include:
  • 1925: “A Preliminary Checklist of the Snakes of Oklahoma” recorded 35 species known to have been collected in the state. 
  • 1926: a summary of the 1925 expedition; “A Report on the Amphibians and Reptiles of Oklahoma,” itemizing 90 species; “Reptiles and Amphibians Collected in the Wichita Mountains, Comanche County, Oklahoma”; “Reptiles and Amphibians Collected in the Arbuckle Mts., Murray County, Oklahoma”; and “A Key to the Snakes of Oklahoma”.
  • 1927: “A List of Reptiles and Amphibians from the Oklahoma Panhandle”
  • 1929: “Reptiles and Amphibians of Pawnee County, Oklahoma”
  • 1930: “Notes on Some Reptiles and Amphibians from Western Oklahoma,” coauthored with Beryl Freeman
  • 1953: “Reptiles of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma,” coauthored with Robert G. Webb
     
• 1925: Edith R. Force, a protégé of Ortenburger, published “Notes on the Reptiles and Amphibians of Okmulgee County, Oklahoma,” listing 29 species. Force was a science educator first at Okmulgee High School and later at the Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in Tulsa and maintained collections and initiated field trips for students at both schools. She has been considered an authority on the genera Sonora and Tantilla, which includes the variable groundsnake, flat-headed snake, and Plains black-headed snake. Some of Force’s herpetological publications include:
  • 1928: “A Preliminary Checklist of Amphibians and Reptiles of Tulsa County,” referencing 47 species and subspecies. In this checklist, Force identifies Rana areolata, the crawfish frog, as a new state record.  
  • 1930: “The Age of Attainment of Sexual Maturity in the Lined Snake,” coauthored with Dr. Frank M. Blanchard.
  • 1931: “Habits and birth of young of the Lined Snake"
  • 1935: “Notes on the Blind Snake in Northeastern Oklahoma” and "A Local Study of the Opisthoglyph Snake Tantilla Gracilis” 
  • 1961: “A Life History Study of the Great Plains Ground Snake”
     
• 1931: Phyllis Draper Newport, a science teacher in Seminole County, collects one of the first known Western chicken turtles in Oklahoma near Bowlegs. The exact location or context of the collection is unknown. 
   
• 1934: Hobart M. Smith and Arthur B. Leonard published “Distributional Records of Reptiles and Amphibians in Oklahoma,” including 65 new county records of four species new to the state. 
   
• 1934: Arthur N. Bragg joined the zoology faculty of the University of Oklahoma and began his 34-year career as a professor, field zoologist, and herpetologist. Though Bragg reported on a variety of species, true toads and spadefoots were his passion. He published in the Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science almost annually from 1939 to his death in 1968. Like Ortenburger, Bragg’s legacy continued in his students. Some of Bragg’s 173 herpetological publications include:
  • 1936: “Notes on the Breeding Habits, Eggs, and Embryos of Bufo cognatus with a Description of the Tadpole”
  • 1940: “Dwarf Bufo Americanus Americanus from Cleveland County Oklahoma”
  • 1945: “Puzzles in the Life History of Scaphipus Hurterii”
  • 1949: “Observations on the Narrow-mouthed Salamander”
  • 1953: “A Study of Rana areolata in Oklahoma”
  • 1957: “The Southern Painted Turtle in Oklahoma”
  • 1960: “Is Heterodon Venomous?”
  • 1967: “Recent Studies on the Spadefoot Toads”
     
• 1936: Eugene B. Webster, a student of A. I. Ortenburger, published “A Preliminary List of the Reptiles and Amphibians of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Near Shawnee,” listing 37 species that were collected within a 12-mile radius of Shawnee. 
   
• 1939: Ichthyologists George Moore and R. Chester Hughes, from Oklahoma State University, documented and described the Oklahoma salamander while searching for brook lamprey larvae in Ozark streambeds. Six aquatic-form salamanders from Tyner Creek in Adair County were collected. 
  • 1941: Moore and Hughes reported the discovery of another salamander, the gray-bellied salamander, by Mr. Aaron Seamster of Connors State Agricultural College. More recent research shows the Oklahoma and gray-bellied salamanders are the same species. 
  • 1947: These descriptions inspired Harold A. Dundee to study salamanders in the Ozark uplift and share notes from other regions. 
  • 2001: George Cline and Renn Tumlison conducted the first comprehensive status assessment for the Oklahoma salamander in the state. 
     
• 1952: Herpetologist and animal behaviorist Charles C. Carpenter joined the University of Oklahoma’s zoology faculty. He continued to teach at the university’s Oklahoma Biological Survey for 35 summers and conducted behavioral and ecological research into lizards. Over the course of his career, he published 136 papers in herpetology, guided 47 graduate students, and became the second curator of herpetology at OU. Additionally, Carpenter began a database called the “Distribution of Oklahoma Amphibians and Reptiles by Recorded Sightings,” often shortened to the abbreviation “DOKARRS,” to store sightings information contributed by many different people. This database is now maintained by the Oklahoma Biological Survey under the umbrella of the Oklahoma Biodiversity Information System. 

Contemporary: 1960s - Present

• 1960: Ibrahim Mahmoud, a student of Carpenter, published his dissertation on the movements, growth, and habits of four species of mud and musk turtles.
   
• 1969: The Eastern collared lizard was designated Oklahoma’s state reptile. 

Jeremiah Zurenda

Rocks are a mainstay for Oklahoma's state reptile, the Eastern collared lizard, or mountain boomer. These lizards burrow under rocks throughout the winter and then hide among, perch upon, dash across and leap from rock to rock throughout the summer. 

• 1970: Robert G. Webb published “Oklahoma Reptiles,” the state’s first reptile guide. In addition to profiling 95 species and subspecies, Webb shared previous collections and reports and a history and description of localities in the state.
   
• 1973: Jeff Black, another student of Carpenter, shared a checklist of the frogs, toads, and salamanders observed in Oklahoma caves. Black later taught at Oklahoma Baptist University and East Central University and was a long-term editor and board member of the Oklahoma Herpetological Society.  
   
• 1975: C. J. McCoy, a graduate of Oklahoma State University and Curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA shared “Notes on Oklahoma Reptiles.” 
   
• 1976: The state’s increasingly active herpetological community came together to establish the Oklahoma Herpetological Society. The OHS has since reformed and offers annual meetings and opportunities to meet other herpetology focused Oklahomans.
  • 1984: Among the OHS special publications was the “Distribution Maps of Oklahoma Reptiles” by Stephen Secor and Charles Carpenter. 
     
• 1977: Emeritus herpetologist and animal behaviorist Stanley Fox joins the zoology faculty at Oklahoma State University. There he conducted a long-term study of collard lizards and mentored many graduate students. Though Fox retired from teaching in 2013, he has continued to be involved in research and publication.
   
• 1986: James Krupa begins to publish notes about the Great Plains toad. In 1994, he summarized the toad’s breeding biology from his 1984-1988 study at breeding pools in Northwestern Norman. 
   
• 1986: The Wildlife Department shares the final report from Greg Sievert's investigation of the distribution and population status of the Rich Mountain salamander, funded by the agency's Nongame Wildlife Program. 
   
• 1987: Mark Paulissen published about the diet of six-lined racerunners. Paulissen continues to study the behavior and ecology of reptiles and amphibians at Northeastern State University. 
   
• 1988: The Wildlife Department shares the final report from Henry Fitch and George Pisani's study of rattlesnake roundups, funded by the agency's Nongame Wildlife Program. 
   
• 1991: Oklahoma’s first protective amphibian and reptile regulations are promulgated. 
   
• 1996: William Lutterschmidt and Christopher Taylor shared their survey of the Cucumber Creek Watershed in the Ouachita Mountains. The list comprised 16 amphibian and 19 reptile species including the spring peeper, Rich Mountain salamander, and Western wormsnake.
   
• 2002: The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation receives its first round of State Wildlife Grant Program funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To learn more about species of greatest conservation need, the Wildlife Department has partnered with many institutions to study individual reptile and amphibian species and survey communities across the state. Final reports of select herpetological surveys include:
  • 2006: “Genetic Variation Within and Among Natural and Captive Populations of Alligator Snapping Turtles in Oklahoma”
  • 2008: “A Herpetological Survey of the Black Mesa Ecoregion and Surrounding Area”
  • 2011: "Survey and Inventory of Amphibians and Reptiles of the Wildlife Management Areas of Oklahoma"
  • 2012: “A Survey of the Freshwater Turtles in Eastern Oklahoma”
  • 2014: “A Survey of Alligator Snapping Turtles and Other Turtle Species in Three Northeast Oklahoma Rivers”
  • 2015: “Distribution and Diversity of Grotto and Oklahoma Salamanders in the Oklahoma Ozarks”
  • 2017: “Assessing the Extent and Density of Chicken Turtle Populations in Southeastern Oklahoma”
  • 2018: “Surveys to Assess Suitability of Alligator Snaping Turtle Reintroduction Sites in Oklahoma”
  • 2022: “Life History of Western Chicken Turtles in Southeastern Oklahoma”
     
• 2006: The Wildlife Department’s David Arbour reports on the “First Confirmed Record of American Alligator Nesting in Oklahoma.”
  • 2010: Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s Tim Patton published “Trends from Six Years of Spotlight Surveys for American Alligators in Southeastern Oklahoma”
     
• 2021: Jessa Watters shares an updated checklist of herpetofauna from the University of Oklahoma’s Biological Station at Lake Texoma. She and coauthors Geoffrey C. Carpenter and Cameron Siler compare records for the area, listing 14 amphibian and 43 reptile species documented by a suite of herpetology professors and citizen scientists. 

Stories Behind the Science

Initially, Howery was intent on finding clues about Oklahoma’s herpetofauna and latched on to the first records of the many-ribbed salamander and Marcy’s checkered gartersnake from the 1850s and the Oklahoma salamander from the late 1930s. But he soon became immersed with the stories behind the scientific records.  

“It became more about the people,” Howery said. “Marcy’s checkered gartersnake was named for Captain Randolph Marcy, who collected the first known specimen while searching for the headwaters of the Red River, and Woodhouse’s toad was named in honor of Samuel Woodhouse, who brought a lot of species to the Philadelphia Academy of Science to be described by a herpetologist.” 

Further in his search, Howery became captivated by the story of Edith Force, a science educator who became active in Oklahoma’s herpetology community in the 1920s. 

“She was a force of nature,” Howery said. “She was a teacher who started the Oklahoma Junior Academy of Science, was seen as an authority in two genera of snake, published in the botanical realm, and was also well known in the ornithological community.” 

Another teacher, Phyllis Draper Newport, also caught Howery’s attention.

“I was grinning ear to ear to learn the name attached to Oklahoma’s first known chicken turtle specimen.”

Though better known for her contributions in developing the first pollen diagram in North America, Newport was a teacher who, along with her students, helped build the University of Oklahoma’s early herpetology collection. Among that collection is a Western chicken turtle specimen listed from Bowlegs in 1931.  

“The network of collaborators across the state, contributing specimens and sighting records through the years, is truly impressive.”  

Following the stories behind the scientific records helped Howery see the compounding value of education, and how the legacy of early herpetologists continues today. 

“It was relatively easy to follow the work of the early faculty members. But it became less manageable as you branch out in time,” Howery said. 

“If you think of the study of herpetology as a tree, Ortenburger and Bragg, two early herpetologists from the University of Oklahoma, are big branches toward the bottom of the tree. More contemporary professors like Chuck Carpenter from OU, Stan Fox from OSU, and Tim Patton from SWOSU are branches further up the tree. And their many students continue to grow from those support branches.” 

For Howery, understanding Oklahoma’s history of herpetology helps him better understand where we are today. 

“Looking through the archives gave me a better foundation of understanding and helped me see the incredible progress in the field of study. 

“Oklahoma is a stronghold for so many species. Not just in terms of their range or population status, but in terms of research. I truly believe research conducted in Oklahoma of the Texas horned lizard, alligator snapping turtle, Eastern collared lizard, and so many other species will stand the test of time.” 

Follow in the footsteps of Oklahoma's herpetologists with your own study of the state's reptiles and amphibians! The Wildlife Department’s “A Field Guide to Oklahoma’s Amphibians and Reptiles” includes tips for identification, a map of the Oklahoma range, and information about the diet and preferred habitats are provided for 135 of the species that can be found in our state. The book’s spiral binding makes it easy to flip through and make comparisons of different species when identifying animals at home or in the field. Copies are available at GoOutdoorsOklahoma.com.