Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

A chorusing adult male from Seward County. Image © Travis W. Taggart.
An adult female Great Plains Toad from Hamilton County, Kansas. © Travis W. Taggart.
AMPHIBIA (Amphibians) ANURA (Frogs) BUFONIDAE (True Toads)

Great Plains Toad
Anaxyrus cognatus (Say in James, 1822: 190)
ăn-ăk-sĕr'-ōs — käg-nā'-tŭs

Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: S5 - Secure
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None
Diagnosis:
 The Great Plains Toad is characterized by dry skin, a round snout, enlarged kidney-shaped glands on the neck behind each eye, bony crests between the eyes merging on the snout to form a flat, raised knob or "boss," and pairs of large black, dark green, or dark brown paired blotches outlined with cream or yellow on the back and sides, with numerous small warts in each blotch. Some specimens have a narrow light stripe down the back. The hind limbs are banded; the front limbs are banded or spotted. The belly is cream or yellow with few or no dark spots on the chest. Females are larger than males. During the breeding season, males have dark throats and horny pads on the inner fingers of each hand.
Adults normally 50-85 mm (2-3⅜ inches) in snout-vent length. The largest Kansas specimen is a female (KU 186099) from Sumner County with a snout-vent length of 102 mm (4 inches) collected by Jeff Ehlers on 23 June 1980. The maximum length throughout the range is 4½ inches (115 mm) (Powell et al. 2016).
Distribution:
 Found throughout western Kansas to the east edge of the Flint Hills. But also follows the riparian corridor along the Kansas River and then along the Missouri River to the North. Specimens from southern Douglas and northwest Miami counties are each over 50 years old and in need of verification.
(,   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:  
  • 1,509
    Records 
  • 1,254
    Museum Vouchers 
  • 255
    Other Observations 
Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
 County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
 Atchison (2); Barber (44); Barton (28); Brown (1); Butler (4); Chase (1); Chautauqua (1); Cheyenne (5); Clark (10); Clay (2); Cloud (1); Comanche (23); Cowley (70); Decatur (2); Dickinson (9); Doniphan (4); Douglas (75); Edwards (3); Elk (2); Ellis (296); Ellsworth (3); Finney (96); Ford (28); Geary (5); Gove (8); Graham (43); Grant (5); Gray (8); Greeley (5); Hamilton (3); Harper (48); Harvey (5); Haskell (3); Hodgeman (3); Jefferson (9); Jewell (1); Johnson (2); Kearney (9); Kingman (32); Kiowa (28); Lane (4); Leavenworth (6); Logan (7); Marion (4); Marshall (4); McPherson (14); Meade (71); Miami (1); Mitchell (1); Morton (12); Ness (53); Norton (9); Ottawa (4); Pawnee (21); Phillips (7); Pottawatomie (3); Pratt (13); Rawlins (2); Reno (35); Republic (3); Rice (15); Riley (5); Rooks (3); Rush (16); Russell (1); Saline (8); Scott (23); Sedgwick (45); Seward (27); Shawnee (7); Sheridan (3); Sherman (4); Stafford (45); Stanton (1); Stevens (4); Sumner (44); Thomas (10); Trego (26); Unknown (6); Wabaunsee (1); Wallace (7); Washington (3); Wichita (2); Wyandotte (2);

Fossil History:
 Reported from the WaKeeney Local Fauna of Trego County based on a nearly complete right frontoparietal (UMMP V55441) and a left ilium (UMMP V55421) by Wilson (1968). Holman (1975) remarked that these elements appeared to be indistinguishable from the A. cognatus, and represented one of the few forms still found in the area today. The WaKeeney Local Fauna site is considered Lower Pliocene: Middle or Late Clarendonian (13,600,000 to 10,300,000 years BP).
Fossils from the Sandahl Local Fauna of McPherson County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Holman 1971; Preston 1979; Holman 1995) are assignable to this taxon.
Fossils from the Butler Spring Local Fauna of Meade County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Tihen 1962; Preston 1979; Holman 1995) are assignable to this taxon.
Fossils from the Cragin Quarry Local Fauna of Meade County (Pleistocene: Sangamonian) (Hay 1917; Etheridge 1958; Etheridge 1960, Tihen 1960; Tihen 1962; Brattstrom 1967; Preston 1979; Holman 1995) are assignable to this taxon.
Miocene (Hemphillian NALMA): Quarry E, near Long Island, Phillips County (Tihen, 1962, Gehlbach, 1965), Sanchiz (1998);
Pliocene (Blancan NALMA): Rexroad Local Fauna, Meade County (Tihen, 1962, Gehlbach, 1965, Sanchiz, 1998); White Rock Fauna, Republic County (Eshelman, 1975, Sanchiz, 1998);
Pleistocene (Rancholabrean NALMA): Butler Spring Local Fauna, Meade County (Tihen 1962, Gehlbach 1965, Holman 1986, Holman 1995, Sanchiz 1998); Cragin Quarry Local Fauna, Meade County (Tihen 1962, Holman 1995, Sanchiz 1998; Jinglebob Local Fauna, Meade County (Tihen 1954, Tihen 1962, Holman 1995, Sanchiz 1998; Jones Local Fauna, Meade County (Tihen 1962, Gehlbach 1965, Holman 1995, Sanchiz 1998); Sandahl Local Fauna, McPherson County (Holman 1971, Holman 1995, Sanchiz 1998).
Natural History:
 This toad is a resident of upland mixed-grass and short-grass prairies and rarely occurs in woodland regions. It also frequents open floodplains, at least in the eastern portion of its range in Kansas. Like most toads, it remains hidden beneath the ground during the day, emerging on summer nights to search for food. Tihen (1937) reported that the Great Plains Toad in Cowley County digs its burrows in the shape of a question-mark in bare, sandy areas, with the toad resting at the end of the upper curve. He also found a specimen of this toad in a cave in Butler County, 700-800 feet from the entrance.
This toad is active from April to September, spending the cold winter months beneath the ground.
The Great Plains Toad is an opportunistic breeder, congregating at suitable breeding sites such as temporary upland pools as early as late March but continuing to breed well into late spring and even early summer, rainfall and temperatures permitting. Collins (1974) observed this species breeding on the Kansas River floodplain in Douglas County, but this may be less than optimal for the species, since it must compete for breeding sites with two other kinds of toads. This toad may produce two clutches per season under optimal conditions. Irwin and Collins (1987) recorded a chorus of these toads on 2 June at Cheyenne Bottoms in Barton County.
Once at the breeding site, males begin to chorus and attract and mount females by clasping them beneath their front limbs. The eggs, laid and fertilized in the water, are deposited in long strings. Each female may produce up to 20,000 eggs. After hatching, the young tadpoles grow in the pond until they metamorphose into young adults.
Hartman (1906) reported a diet of snout-beetles and dung-beetles in Kansas specimens, though they likely will consume any live small animal that fits in their mouth. Smith (1934, 1956) mentioned ants as a possible item in the diet of this species.
Occurrence Activity:
 Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 157; Range: 02 Jan to 06 Nov
Chorusing:
Audio recording by Keith Coleman.

Chorusing Phenology: The black outlined dots denote the Julian date (day of the year; 1 January = 1 to 31 December = 365) an observation was made. The thin red line depicts the range of dates between the beginning of the first, and end of the fourth quartile (excluding outliers; Tukey method). The thick light blue bar represents the second and third quartile (interquartile range; the middle 50% of all observations). Only one observation per Julian date is included in the graphs; so a date with multiple observations carries the same weight as a date with only one observation. The vertical bars correspond to the 12 months of the year; January through December.
Number of Unique Obervations: 212; Range: 27 Mar to 31 Aug; Interquartile range: 11 May to 24 Jun;

Remarks:
 First reported in Kansas by Cragin (1880). The earliest extant specimen (MCZ 2041) was collected "near Manhattan Kan" by Francis Cragin and received by the MCZ around 1879.
Smith (1946) described the tadpoles of this species from a series taken at Meade County State Park.Gloyd (1929) reported a large female from Riley County that was collected at approximately 10 pm on a small road near the Blue River NE of Manhattan on 12 July 1928.
In Douglas County, Collins (1974) observed this toad at the same breeding site with American and Woodhouse's Toads. It may hybridize with one or both of these species. Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this toad of ten years, eight months, and ten days.
Bibliography:
1822 James, Edwin. Account of an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819 and ‘20, by order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, Sec’y of War: under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the exploring party. Compiled by Edwin James, botanist and geologist for the expedition. In two vols. – with an atlas. [Volume 2]. Henry Charles Carey and Isaac Lea, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 442, with supplementary chapters and an appendix.pp.
This is volume 2 (of 2) of the "Philadelphia" edition, which are dated 1823. However on 21 December 1822, Long sent a bound copy to John C. Calhoun (Secretary of War). It was publicly available, and effectively published for the sake of nomenclatural acts, on 31 December 1822. Woodman, 2010. Archives of Natural History 37(1): 28-38.
Contains the original description of Coluber testaceus (Masticophis flagellum testaceus) page 48, Ameiva tesselata (=Aspidoscelis tesselatus) page 50, Bufo cognatus (=Anaxyrus cognatus), Agama collaris (=Crotaphytus collaris) page 252, and Scincus lateralis (=Scincella lateralis) page 324, all by Thomas Say.
1880 Cragin, Francis W. A preliminary catalogue of Kansas reptiles and batrachians Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 7():112-123
Also listed the Scarlet Snake (Cemophora coccinea) [=Ophibolus doliatus var. coccineus] and Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber) [=Spelerpes ruber] from Kansas.
1882 Yarrow, Henry C. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249
A summary of all herpetological species known at the time, with reference to specimens in the United States National Museum. Including one three Acris blanchardi from Fort Riley; Agkistrodon contortrix from Fort Riley; three Ambystoma mavortium from "Kansas" and another from Fort Riley; one Anaxyrus woodhousii from "Kansas"; one Anaxyrus cognatus from "Kansas" and another from Fort Riley; one Carphophis vermis from Fort Scott; three Coluber constrictor from "Kansas" and two from Fort Riley; one Crotalus horridus from 1858; one Diadophis punctatus from Hyatt [Hyette sic], Kansas (Anderson County); one Graptemys pseudogeographica from the Republican River in Kansas;   two Heterodon nasicus from Fort Riley; one Lampropeltis calligaster from Neosho Falls; one Lampropeltis holbrooki from Fort Riley, one from "Natchez", Kansas, and one other from Shawnee Mission, Kansas;one Lampropeltis gentilis from Fort Riley and one other from the Republican River, Kansas; one Pantherophis obsoletus from Fort Riley;fourteen Phrynosoma douglassi from "Kansas" and four from Fort Riley; three Phrynosoma cornutum from Fort Riley (Riley County);  three Pituophis catenifer from "Platte Valley", Kansas [likely from eastern Colorado prior to 1861] and two specimens from Fort Riley; one Plestiodon septentrionalis from Neosho Falls (Woodson County); one Plestiodon obsoletus from Fort Riley; one Thamnophis sirtalis from "Kansas"; one Nerodia sipedon from Fort Riley and another from Neosho Falls; one Scincella lateralis from Fort Scott (Bourbon County); one Thamnophis proximus from Fort Riley; four Sceloporus consobrinus from Fort Riley; one Tantilla nigriceps from Fort Riley; four Thamnophis sirtalis from "Kansas" and two from Little Blue River, Kansas; 
1887 Garman, Samuel. Reptiles and batrachians from Texas and Mexico. Bulletin of the Essex Institute 19():119-138
Notes that the spots on Bufo cognatus (= Anaxyrus cognatus) from San Luis Potosi, Mexico are smaller than on those specimens from Kansas.
1906 Dickerson, Mary C. The Frog Book; North American Toads and Frogs, with Study of the Habits and Life Histories of Those of the Northeastern States. Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, New York. 253pp.
1906 Hartman, Frank A. Food habits of Kansas lizards and batrachians. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 20():225-229
1925 Storer, Tracy I. A synopsis of the amphibia of California. University of California Publications in Zoology (27):1-342
Reference to Kansas in the Bufo cognatus and Bufo woodhousii accounts.
1926 Burnett, William L. Notes on Colorado herpetology. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology and Entomology 1(1):1-4
1929 Taylor, Edward H. List of reptiles and batrachians of Morton County, Kansas, reporting species new to the state fauna. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 19(6):63-65
Annotated listing of 25 species discovered in southwest Morton County just prior to the Dust Bowl that wreaked havoc on the region and the subsequent creation of the Cimarron National Grassland. Of special note are Heterodon platirhinos, Thamnophis marcianus, and Anaxyrus debilis (all of which have not been found in the area since).
1929 Gloyd, Howard K. Two additions to the herpetological fauna of Riley County, Kansas. Science 66(1776):44
Reports on the first Plains Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon nasicus) and Great Plains Toad (Anaxyrus cognatus) taken (but neither cataloged) from Riley County, Kansas. The specific locality, of the H. nasicus is listed as ("near Manhattan") . No specimen of the A. cognatus exists, however, the given date/locality ("... July 12, 1928, five miles northeast of Manhattan, not far from the Blue River.") is precise enough to be mapped as a literature reference.
1931 Frost, Nancy. A comparative study of the urogenital systems of forty-two species of North American anurans. Thesis. University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. 76pp.
Utilized specimens of Lithobates areolatus from Franklin County and Anaxyrus cognatus from Rush County.
1932 Kellogg, Remington. Mexican tailless amphibians in the United States National Museum . Bulletin of the United States National Museum (160):1-224
List Kansas (erroneously) as within the range of Spea multiplicata. Records Anaxyrus cognatus from Gove, Morton, Trego, and Wallace counties. Discredits a record of Anaxyrus speciosus from southwest Kansas. Lists Anaxyrus debilis from Grant and Morton counties. Reports Anaxyrus woodhousii from Doniphan County in northeastern Kansas and later on from "... the chalk cliffs of western Kansas".
1933 Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 3rd Edition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.
Reference to Kansas is the listed range of several species.
1933 Smith, Hobart M. The Amphibians of Kansas. Thesis. University of Kansas, Lawrence. 383pp.
The first full accounting of the twenty-five species of amphibians known to occur in Kansas. Includes Ambystoma maculatum which is currently not included in the Kansas faunal list.
1934 Smith, Hobart M. The Amphibians of Kansas. American Midland Naturalist 15(4):377-527
The formal publication of Hobart Smith's Master's Thesis (Smith 1933), though there are several updated and additions. In addition to the species accounts for all twenty-five species, the paper includes a history of amphibian biology in Kansas and discussions on taxonomy and physiography. 
1934 Brennan, Lawrence A. A check list of the amphibians and reptiles of Ellis County, Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37():189-191
1935 Brennan, Lawrence A. Notes on the distribution of Amphibia and Reptilia of Ellis County, Kansas. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 114pp.
1936 Brumwell, Malcolm J. Distributional records of the reptilia and amphibians of Kansas. Privately printed, . 22pp.
County dot maps of the Kansas herpetofauna. This work has been attributed to have been written around 1933, but that may be in error. 
Hypsiglena jani was not known from Kansas until Claude W. Hibbard collected three specimens on the Stevenson Ranch in north-central Clark County (above Clark State Lake) during June 1936 (Hibbard, 1937). Brumwell plotted this locality, which leads me to believe that the 1936 would have been the earliest date this manuscript could have been written.
1937 Brennan, Lawrence A. A study of the habitat of reptiles and amphibians of Ellis County, Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 40():341-347
1939 Tihen, Joseph A. and James M. Sprague. Amphibians, reptiles, and mammals of the Meade County State Park Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 42():499-512
1941 Smith, Charles Clinton and Arthur N. Bragg. Food of Bufo a. americanus, B. cognatus, and B. woodhousei in Oklahoma. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 22(4):30
1942 Hudson, G. E. The amphibians and reptiles of Nebraska. Nebraska Conservation Bulletin 24():1-146
1944 Marr, John C. Notes on amphibians and reptiles from the central United States. American Midland Naturalist 32(2):478-490
1946 Smith, Hobart M. The tadpoles of Bufo cognatus Say. University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History 1(3):93-96
Notes on two series of Anaxyrus cognatus tadpoles from Meade County, Kansas.
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.
1956 Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. Second edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication (9):1-356
Hobart M. Smith's updated second edition of his first (1950) modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table says 97 on p. 10; text says 98 on p. 10) and 11 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies. The second edition has updated taxonomy, added Plestiodon laticeps, and removed Eurycea tynerensis.
1956 Loomis, Richard B. The chigger mites of Kansas (Acarina, Trombiculidae). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 37():1195-1443
Examined 2,628 Kansas reptiles of 48 species consisting of 27 turtles of 4 species, 1,736 lizards of 12 species and 892 snakes of 32 speciesfor chiggers. Eleven species of chiggers were recovered from reptiles.
For amphibians, 1188 individuals of 21 species were examined. Five species of chigger mite were recovered from amphibians.
1958 Smith, Ronald E. Natural history of the Prairie Dog in Kansas. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, Miscellaneous Publications (16):1-36
1958 Blair, W. Frank. Mating call in the speciation of anuran amphibians. The American Naturalist 92(862):27-51
1962 Gish, Charles D. The Herpetofauna of Ellis County, Kansas. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 34pp.
1962 Tihen, Joseph A. A review of new world fossil bufonids. American Midland Naturalist 68(1):1-50
1965 Smith, Hobart M., T. Paul Maslin, and Robert L. Brown. Summary of the distribution of the herpetofauna of Colorado: A Supplement to An Annotated Check List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Colorado. University of Colorado Studies Series in Biology (15):56
1967 Choate, Jerry R. Wildlife in the Wakarusa Watershed of Northeastern Kansas. Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence. 46pp.
1967 Gier, Herschel T. Vertebrates of the Flint Hills. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 70(1):51-59
1968 Wilson, Richard L. Systematics and faunal analysis of a Lower Pliocene vertebrate assemblage from Trego County, Kansas. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 22():75-126
1969 Tyler, Jack D. Distribution and vertebrate associates of the black-tailed prairie dog in Oklahoma. Dissertation. University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. 85pp.
1971 Holman, J. Alan. Herpetofauna of the sandahl local fauna (Pleistocene: Illinoian) of Kansas. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 23(22):349-355
1972 Rogers, J. S. Discriminate function analysis of morphological relationships within the Bufo cognatus species group. 1972(2):381-383
1973 Rogers, James S. Biochemical and morphological analysis of potential introgression between Bufo cognatus and B. speciosus. 90(1):127-142
1973 Rogers, James S. Protein polymorphism, genic heterozygosity and divergence in the toads Bufo cognatus and B. speciosus. 1973(2):322-330
1974 Eshelman, Ralph E. Geology and paleontology of the early Pleistocene Belleville Formation of north central Kansas. Dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 137pp.
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)>
1974 Perry, Janice. KHS members take trip to southwest Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (3):2-3
Account of a search for Crotalus atrox and other species discovered in Comanche County.
1974 Fleharty, Eugene D. and Jerry D. Johnson. Distributional records of herptiles from the Chautauqua Hills of southeastern Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 77(1):65-67
1975 Rundquist, Eric M. Amphibians and Reptiles of Kingman County, Kansas. Privately Printed, Lawrence, Kansas. 3pp.
Short accounts for twenty-nine recognized amphibians and reptiles from Kingman County, Kansas. With habitat descriptions and for some species, estimates of population density.
1975 Taylor, Edward H., A. Byron Leonard, Hobart M. Smith, and George R. Pisani. Edward H. Taylor: Recollections of an Herpetologist . Monograph of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas (4):1-159
1975 Rundquist, Eric M. First KHS field trip yields three county records. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (7):1-3
Narration of the activities and species found during the KHS field trip to Kingman County, Kansas. From the title of the article, there were three county records were obtained, however, only Plestiodon septentrionalis is indicated as being 'new'.
1975 Eshelman, Ralph E. Geology and paleontology of the early Pleistocene (late Blancan) White Rock fauna from northcentral Kansas. University of Michigan Museum of Palenontology, Papers on Paleontology. (13):60
1975 Holman, J. Alan. Herpetofauna of the WaKeeney local fauna (Lower Pliocene: Clarendionian) of Trego County, Kansas. Pages 49-66 in Studies on Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy in honor of Claude W. Hibbard. Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. pp.
1976 Rundquist, Eric M. Field checklist (of) amphibians and reptiles of Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society, Lawrence. pp.
1976 Capron, Marty B. and Jan Perry. A July weekend in Great Bend. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (14):1-2
1977 Knight, James L. and Joseph T. Collins. The amphibians and reptiles of Cheyenne County, Kansas, Report Number 15. Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence. 19pp.
1977 Trott, Gene. Chikaskia River wildlife study. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (19):2-3
1977 Irwin, Kelly J. KHS Ottawa County meeting profitable. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (20):1-2
1977 Stegall, Eddie. First Strecker's Chorus Frog collected in Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (21):11-13
1978 Curl, Richard L. Final Environmental Statement: Milford Lake Kansas operation and maintenance. US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District. 158pp.
Notable mentions: Spotted Salamander, Smooth Green Snake
1978 Warner, M. and R. Wencel. Chikaskia River study held near Caldwell. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (25):15-16
1978 Collins, Joseph T. and Janalee P. Caldwell. New records of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles in Kansas for 1977. Technical Publication of the State Biological Survery of Kansas 6():70-88
1979 Martin, Larry D. Survey of fossil vertebrates from east-central Kansas: Kansas River bank stabilization study. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District. 55pp.
1979 Ports, Mark A. Occurrence and density studies of nongame wildlife in southwestern Kansas - May 16-August 16, 1979. Kansas Fish and Game Commission, Pratt, Kansas. 83pp.
1979 Gray, Peter and Eddie Stegall. A field trip to the Red Hills. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (29):6-8
1979 Miller, Larry L. Life in Kansas and Oklahoma once again threatened by pesticides. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (31):7
Report on damage to wildlife as a result of the aerial spraying of toxaphene and parthion in south-central Kansas for Army-cutworms. Animals noted to be affected (besides cutworms) "...amphibians such as leopard frogs, bullfrogs, and several species of toads.Several turtles, snakes, and other reptiles were also found dead in the areaas well as birds and small mammals...".
1979 Collins, Joseph T. New records of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles in Kansas for 1978. Technical Publication of the State Biological Survery of Kansas 8():56-66
1980 Clarke, Robert F. Herptiles and fishes of the western Arkansas River in Kansas. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 55pp.
A summary of known information on the amphibian, reptile, and fish faunas of the Arkansas River above Great Bend. The report details associated field activities for procuring fish, however no new surveys for amphibians and reptiles were undertaken. Information on herps from Finney County was provided by Michael Rush (FHSU) and thus made available before the publication of his thesis (Rush, 1981). The western Arkansas River drainage had experienced little attention by herpetologists before this study, and the species accounts reflect that paucity of data. Additionally, the report omits several older records (e.g. for Anaxyrus debilis, Thamnophis cyrtopsis, and Lampropeltis calligaster) from the westernmost reaches of the Arkansas River drainage in Kansas.
1980 Guarisco, Hank. Record size Great Plains Toad collected in Sumner County. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (38):5
1980 Kunz, T. H., J. R. Choate, and S. B. George. Distributional records for three species of mammals in Kansas Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 83():74-77
1981 Collins, Joseph T. New records of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles in Kansas for 1980. Technical Publication of the State Biological Survery of Kansas 10():7-19
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)>
1983 Trott, Gene. Chikaskia River wildlife study. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (52):3-4
1983 Collins, Joseph T. New records of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles in Kansas for 1982 . Technical Publication of the State Biological Survey of Kansas 13():9-21
1984 Brown, Kenneth L. Pomona: A plains village variant in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. Dissertation. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 519pp.
1984 Heinrich, Mark L. Herpetofauna of the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in the Flint Hills region of Kansas with respect to habitat selection. Thesis. Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. 57pp.
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.
1985 Lynch, John D. Annotated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nebraska. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Science 13():33-57
1986 Holman, J. Alan. Butler Spring herpetofauna of Kansas (Pleistocene: Illinoian) and its climatic significance. Journal of Herpetology 20(4):568-569
1988 Nulton, Michael T. and Michael S. Rush. New county records of amphibians and reptiles in Gray County, Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (74):10-12
1989 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1988. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (75):15-18
1990 Collins, Joseph T. Results of second Kansas herp count held during April-May 1990. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (81):10-12
1990 Collins, Joseph T. Maximum size records for Kansas amphibians and reptiles. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (81):13-17
1990 Krupa, James J. Bufo cognatus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (457):1-8
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.
1991 Collins, Joseph T. and Suzanne L. Collins. Reptiles and Amphibians of the Cimarron National Grasslands, Morton County, Kansas. U. S. Forest Service, Elkhart, Kansas. 60pp.
1991 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1990. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (83):7-13
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Results of third Kansas herp count held during April-May 1991. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (85):9-13
1992 Ford, Kenneth M. III. Herpetofauna of the Albert Ahrens Local Fauna (Pleistocene: Irvingtonian), Nebraska. Thesis. Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan. 44pp.
1992 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1991. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (87):12-17
1992 Collins, Joseph T. Results of the fourth Kansas herp count held during April-May 1992. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (89):10-
1992 Taggart, Travis W. Results of the KHS annual field trip to Sheridan County State Lake. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (90):3-4
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)>
1993 Collins, Joseph T. and Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the fifth Kansas herp count held during April-June 1993 . Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (94):7-11
1994 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1993. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (97):15-19
1994 Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the sixth annual KHS herp counts held 1 April-31 May 1994. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (97):5-14
See, 1994 Rundquist, Eric M. Additions and corrections [to the results of the sixth annual KHS herp counts held 1 April-31 May 1994]. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (98):4.
1995 Holman, J. Alan. Pleistocene Amphibians and Reptiles. Oxford University Press, New York. 243pp.
1995 Anderson, Lewis, Mark Shaw, Jeff Blodig, and Tom Walker. Report to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks: Herps encountered during REmap project, summer 1994. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (99):10-17
1995 Moriarty, Emily C. and Joseph T. Collins. First known occurrence of amphibian species in Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (100):28-30
1995 Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the seventh annual KHS herp counts held 1 April-31 May 1995. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (101):11-17
1995 Rundquist, Eric M. Additional KHS herp counts for 1995. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (102):11-
1996 Young, Eugene A. and Max C. Thompson. Waterbird usage of the Warner Marsh, Slate Creek Wetlands, Sumner County, Kansas. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. 80pp.
1996 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1995. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (103):13-15
1996 Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the eighth annual KHS herp counts Held 1 April-31 May 1996. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (104):6-17
1996 Rundquist, Eric M. Notes on the natural history of some Kansas amphibians and reptiles: Parasites. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (105):16-17
1996 Rakestraw, J. Spring herp counts: A Kansas tradition. Reptile & Amphibian Magazine (March-April):75-80
1996 Dundee, Harold A. Some reallocations of type localities of reptiles and amphibians described from the Major Stephen H. Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, with comments on some of the statements made in the account written by Edwin James.  Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 30():75–89
1997 Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the ninth annual KHS herp counts held 1 April-31 May 1997. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (108):12-17
1997 Rundquist, Eric M. Addendum to 1997 KHS herp counts. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (109):14-15
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.
1998 Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the tenth annual KHS herp counts for 1998, held 1 April-31 May. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (112):11-18
1999 Rundquist, Eric M. Kansas Herpetological Society herp counts: A 10 year summary and evaluation. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (115):42962
2000 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1999. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (119):7-9
2000 Van Doren, Mark D. and Curtis J. Schmidt. A herpetological survey of the Fort Larned National Historic Site, Pawnee County, Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (120):8-11
2000 Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the eleventh and twelfth annual KHS herpetofaunal counts for 1999-2000, held 1 April-31 May. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (122):11-16
2001 Rundquist, Eric M. Results of the thirteenth annual KHS herp counts for 2001, held 1 April-30 June. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (125):13-16
2002 Kingsbury, Bruce and Joanna Gibson. Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Midwest. Publication of Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Address not given. 152pp.
2002 Fogell, Daniel D. Occurrence and relative abundance of amphibians and reptiles at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Homestead National Monument of America, and Pipestone National Monument within the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network. Interim Report. National Park Service, Washington, D.C.. 6pp.
2002 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 2001. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (1):10-11
2002 Ellis, Mark R. Fall 2002 KHS field trip to Washington County. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (2):4-5
2003 Fogell, Daniel D. A herpetofaunal inventory of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Homestead National Monument of America, and Pipestone National Monument within the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network. National Park Service, Washington, D.C.. 59pp.
This is the version the author submitted to the NPS. Their final publication was modified.
2003 Suleiman, G. Fort Riley herpetofaunal count. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (5):11-12
2003 Taggart, Travis W. Kansas Herpetological Society 2003 spring field trip. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (5):3-4
2003 Miller, Larry L. Sumner County herp count. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (7):10
2003 Taggart, Travis W. Logan County herp count. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (7):8
2004 Delisle, Jennifer M. and William H. Busby. Biological inventory for vertebrates at Fort Larned National Historic Site of the southern plains network. Natural Heritage Inventory, Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence. 61pp.
2004 Taggart, Travis W. Kansas Herpetological Society 2004 spring field trip. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (9):2
2004 Miller, Larry L. Sumner County herp count. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (11):11-12
2004 Schmidt, Curtis J. Geographic distribution: Bufo cognatus. Kansas. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (11):13
County record, Grant County, Kansas.
2004 Pauly, Gregory B., David M. Hillis, and David C. Cannatella. The history of a Nearctic colonization: Molecular phylogenetics and biogeography of the Nearctic toads (Bufo). Evolution 58():2517-2535
2005 Lannoo, Michael (Editor) Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University fo California Press, Berkeley. 1115pp.
2006 Altig, Ronald, Roy W. McDiarmid, Kimberly A. Nichols, and Paul C. Ustach. Tadpoles of the United States and Canada: A Tutorial and Key Electronic files accessible at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/tadpole/. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA. ():
2006 Taggart, Travis W. Addendum report to biological inventory of the sandsage prairie near Holcomb, Kansas. Sunflower Electric Cooperative, Hays, Kansas. 31pp.
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.
2006 Frost, Darrel R, Taran Grant, Julian Faivovich, Raoul H. Bain, Alexander Haas, Celio F. B. Haddad, Rafael O. De Sa, Alan Channing, Mark Wilkinson, Stephen C. Donnellan, Christopher J. Raxworthy, Jonathan A. Campbell, Boris L. Blotto, Paul Moler, Robert C. Drewes, Ronald A. Nussbaum, John D. Lynch, David M. Green, and Ward C. Wheeler. The amphibian tree of life Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (297):370
2007 Taggart, Travis W., Joseph T. Collins, and Curtis J. Schmidt. Estimates of amphibian, reptile, and turtle mortality if Phostoxin is applied to 10,000 acres of prairie dog burrows in Logan County, Kansas. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. 5pp.
2007 Taggart, Travis W. A biological inventory of the Sunflower Electric Site near Holcomb, Kansas. Journal of Kansas Herpetology 23():11-16
2008 Pauly, Gregory B. Phylogenetic systematics, historical biogeography, and the evolution of vocalizations in Nearctic toads (Bufo). Dissertation. University of Texas, Austin. 165pp.
TNHC 62701 (CK Co.) used in analyses.
2008 Schmidt, Curtis J. Geographic distribution: Anaxyrus cognatus. Kansas. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (27):7
2010 Lahti, Megan E. The status of dwarfed populations of Short-horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi) and Great Plains Toads (Anaxyrus cognatus) in the San Luis Valley, Colorado. Dissertation. Utah State University, Logan, Utah. 178pp.
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)>
2011 Collins, Joseph T., Suzanne L. Collins, and Travis W. Taggart. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles of the Cimarron National Grassland, Kansas. Second (Revised) Edition. U. S. Forest Service, . pp.
2011 Taggart, Travis W. Kansas Herpetological Society 2011 spring field trip to be held in Chautauqua County. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (37):5-7
2011 Taggart, Travis W. Results of the Kansas Herpetological Society 2011 Summer Field Trip to Scott State Park Journal of Kansas Herpetology (39):2
2012 Rohweder, Megan R. Spatial conservation prioritization of Kansas for terrestrial vertebrates. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 151pp.
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.
2013 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 982pp.
2013 Bass, Neil. The Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project: For the river, for you, and for herps. Collinsorum 2(1/2):10-11
2013 Miller, Larry L. Wellington Lake Herpetological Survey. Collinsorum 2(1/2):12
2013 Mardis, Dexter and Kevin Scott. 2013 Kansas Herpetofaunal Counts. Collinsorum 2(3/4):7
2014 Taggart, Travis W. Results of the 2014 KHS Spring Field Trip to Barber County Collinsorum 3(2-4):11
2014 Taggart, Travis W. Results of the 2014 KHS summer field trip to Morton County and adjacent Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Collinsorum 3(2-4):12
2015 Brown, Kasandra A. Occupancy Modeling Of Herpetofauna And Grassland Nesting Birds At Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 72pp.
2015 Bass, Neil. Herpetological (Frog and Turtle) Inventories along the Missouri River in Kansas. Collinsorum 4(1):5-9
2015 Taggart, Travis W. Spring Field Trip to the Greenhorn Limestone of Russell County. Collinsorum 4(3):2
2015 Taggart, Travis W. Summer Field Trip In The Harvey County Sandhills. Collinsorum 4(3):3
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.
2016 Taggart, Travis W. Spring 2016 KHS field trip to Clark County was a soggy success. Collinsorum 5(2-3):2-3
2016 Taggart, Travis W. Results of the KHS ‘Fall’ field trip to Barber County. Collinsorum 5(2-3):6-7
2017 Snyder, Ariel. Survey Of Anuran Chytrid (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in Kansas and the Influence of Anuran Life History in Occurrence. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 53pp.
2017 Taggart, Travis W. and J. Daren Riedle. A Pocket Guide to Kansas Amphibians, Turtles and Lizards. Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita, Kansas. 69pp.
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
2018 Goldberg, Stephen R. Notes on reproduction of Great Plains Toads, Anaxyrus cognatus (Anura: Bufonidae), from southern Arizona. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 53(6):131-134
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.
2020 Daniel, Richard E. and Brian S. Edmond. Atlas of Missouri Amphibians and Reptiles for 2019. Privately printed, Columbia, Missouri. 86pp.
2020 Riedle, J. Daren. Revisiting Kansas Herpetological Society field trip and Herp Count data: Distributional patterns and trend data of Kansas amphibians and reptiles. Collinsorum 9(1):7-16
2021 Taggart, Travis W and Sarah L Taggart. Herp Count: Comanche County: KHS-2020-15. Collinsorum 9(3):13-14
2021 Taggart, Megan M. and Travis W. Taggart. Herp Count: Seward County: KHS-2020-27. Collinsorum 9(3):15
2021 Taggart, Travis W. Herp Count: Harper County: KHS-2020-26. Collinsorum 9(3):15
2023 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. Second Edition. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 1032pp.
2023 Russell, Elisabeth Habitat associations and fine-scale movements of the Red-spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus) in Kansas and the efficacy of remote telemetry for monitoring small-scale movements. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 81pp.
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Travis W. Taggart © 1999-2025 — w/ Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University