Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

An adult Black-necked Gartersnake from Pueblo County, Colorado (iNat: 96019036). Image by iNat user Maxwell Soell (maxwell_soell).
An adult Black-necked Gartersnake from Las Animas County, Colorado (iNat: 92494681). Image by iNat user Miles Ward (milesward).
An adult Black-necked Gartersnake from Pueblo County, Colorado (iNat: 31131778). Image by iNat user Henry Fabian (hfabian).
REPTILIA (Reptiles) SQUAMATA (PART) (Snakes) NATRICIDAE (Harmless Egg-Retaining Snakes)

Black-necked Gartersnake
Thamnophis cyrtopsis (Kennicott 1860)
thăm-nō-fĭs — sĭr-tŏp-sĭs

Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: SNA - Not Applicable
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None
Diagnosis:
 HARMLESS. Marked with three relatively broad stripes, one dorsally and one on each side of the body. The dorsal strip is typically orange on the neck and fades to yellow or cream toward the tail. The lateral stripes are cream to yellow and generally positioned on the 2nd and 3rd scale rows. Between the stripes are two alternating rows of dark spots which may be prominent (especially toward the head) or dark and poorly defined.
There is a pair of large dark blotches just behind the top of the head. The supralabials are barred and generally uniform in color. The belly is white though some specimens have blue-green cast.
Distribution:
 The Hamilton County record is listed only to county and therefore is too imprecise to map.
(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record) (,   iNat Record), (  Fossil)
Open icons are questionable records; Click on a marker to view details.
Full range depicted by light shaded red area. Export Google Earth (.kml)
  • Occurrence Summary:  
  • 1
    Records 
  • 1
    Museum Vouchers 
  • 0
    Other Observations 
Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
 County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
 Hamilton (1);

Fossil History:
 Not known from Kansas.
Natural History:
 Prefers rocky streams and small permanent bodies of water.
Occurrence Activity:
 Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 0; Range: 01 Jan to 01 Jan
Remarks:
 Collins (1984) was the first to report the Black-necked Gartersnake from Kansas, based on the specimen mentioned below. Only known from Kansas based on a single specimen (KU 2088) collected in Hamilton County, Kansas, in 1903 by R. L. Moodie (specimen was previously cataloged and published as a Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis).
KU 2088 was examined by Joseph T. Collins and Douglas A. Rossman (noted expert on Thamnophis formerly of Louisiana State University) and it was determined the identification of T. cyrtopsis was correct (Collins 1984).
Its validity is given some credence by Hammerson (1982), who recorded the Blackneck Garter Snake from the Arkansas River valley in Bent County, Colorado, less than 50 miles west of the Kansas border. This serpent may be discovered in the Arkansas River valley of Hamilton County along the western Kansas border.
Bibliography:
1860 Kennicott, Robert. Descriptions of new species of North American serpents in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 12():328-338
1950 Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History, Miscellaneous Publication (2):336
The first modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table and text say 97 on p. 10) and 13 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies.
1974 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (1):283 pp
Joseph T. Collins first Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Smith 1956)>
1982 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. 2nd edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (8):
Joseph T. Collins second Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1974)>
1984 Secor, Stephen M. and Charles C. Carpenter. Distribution maps of Oklahoma reptiles. Oklahoma Herpetological Society Special Publication (3):1-57
1984 Collins, Joseph T. New records of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles in Kansas for 1983. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (56):15-26
Invalidated the specimens of Thamnophis sirtalis from Hamilton County (reidentified as T. cyrtopsis; KU 2088) and Wallace County mapped in Collins, 1982.
1991 Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1993 Collins, Joseph T. and Suzanne L. Collins. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. Third Edition. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Lawrence. 397pp.
Joseph T. Collins third Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1982)>
1996 Rossman, Douglas A., Neil B. Ford, and Ricahrd A. Seigel. The Garter Snakes: Evolution and Ecology. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. pp.
1998 Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed, expanded. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1998 Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians & Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 131pp.
2006 Taggart, Travis W. Distribution and status of Kansas herpetofauna in need of information. State Wildlife Grant T7. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. vii + 106pp.
2010 Collins, Joseph T., Suzanne L. Collins, and Travis W. Taggart. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles of Kansas Eagle Mountain Publishing., Provo, Utah. 400pp.
Joseph T. Collins fourth Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1993)>
2012 Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada: Second Edition, Revised and Updated. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 152pp.
2016 Powell, Robert, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. 494pp.
2017 Crother, Brian I. (editor) Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Eighth edition. Herpetological Circulars (43):1-102
2019 Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada. Third Edition. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 192pp.
2022 Hallas, Joshua M., Thomas L. Parchman, and Chris R. Feldman. Phylogenomic analyses resolve relationships among garter snakes (Thamnophis: Natricinae: Colubridae) and elucidate biogeographic history and morphological evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 167(2022):107374
Utilized a genome-wide high-throughput sequencing dataand near-complete taxon sampling to estimate a robust phylogeny forThamnophis.
2023 Nuñez, Leroy P., Levi N Gray, David Weisrock, and Frank T Burbrink. The phylogenomic and biogeographic history of the Gartersnakes, Watersnakes, and Allies (Natricidae: Thamnophiini). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 186(2023):107844
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Travis W. Taggart © 1999-2025 — w/ Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University