Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

An adult Spiny Softshell from Kingman County, Kansas. Image © Ken Brunson.
An adult Spiny Softshell from Saline County. © by Brenda Gunder.
A Pond Slider, basking on a Spiny Softshell, basking on a log in Shoal Creek, Cherokee County. © Jenn Rader.
An adult Spiny Softshell from Lincoln County, Kansas. © Kevin Urbanek.
An adult Spiny Softshell from Hamilton County, Kansas. Image © Travis W. Taggart.
An adult Spiny Softshell from Stafford County, Kansas. Image © Nick Stroot.
An adult Spiny Softshell from Cherokee County, Kansas. Image © Lisa Wehrly.
Dorsal view of MCZ R5758, a Paratype of A. spinifera 'hartwegi', collected in Ellis County in 1886. Image courtesy of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Ventral view of MCZ R5758, a Paratype of A. spinifera 'hartwegi', collected in Ellis County in 1886. Image courtesy of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Lateral view of the head of MCZ R5758, a Paratype of A. spinifera 'hartwegi', collected in Ellis County in 1886. Image courtesy of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
REPTILIA (Reptiles) TESTUDINES (Turtles) TRIONYCHIDAE (Softshells)

Spiny Softshell
Apalone spinifera (LeSueur 1827)
ā-pă-lō'-nē — spī-nĭ-fĕr-ă

Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: S5 - Secure
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: Appendix III
Diagnosis:
 The semi aquatic Spiny Softshell is characterized by a short tail, an upper shell with flexible, soft edges, a soft lower shell much smaller than the upper shell, limbs with a pattern of dark streaks and spots, and small bumps or tubercles along the front edge of the upper shell. The upper shell is olive to light brown, with patterns varying from all black-edged spots (adult males) to dark indistinct blotches (adult females). The edge of the upper shell has a marginal dark line. The lower shell is white or yellowish. The head, limbs, and tail are white underneath and olive to light brown above. A black-edged yellow line extends through the eye on each side of the head. Spiny Softshells have a tubular snout with round nostrils containing septal projections (ridges extending from the inside midline into the nostril space). Males have longer tails than females, with the anal opening near the tip. Females grow much larger than males.
Adults are normally 125-432 mm (5-17 inches) in carapace length. The largest specimen from Kansas is a female (KU 197330) from Kingman County with a shell length of 523 mm (20‌1⁄2 inches) and a weight of 15.9 kilograms (35 pounds), collected by Richard Keller and Ralph Massoth, Jr., on 10 September 1984. The maximum carapace length throughout the range is 616 mm (21¼ inches) (Powell et al., 2016).
Distribution:
 This species is found in rivers, streams, and larger ponds and reservoirs statewide in Kansas but is least abundant on the western plains.
(,   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:  
  • 708
    Records 
  • 388
    Museum Vouchers 
  • 320
    Other Observations 
Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
 County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
 Allen (13); Anderson (3); Atchison (3); Barber (11); Barton (7); Bourbon (29); Brown (2); Butler (8); Chase (15); Chautauqua (29); Cherokee (39); Cheyenne (2); Clark (3); Cloud (1); Coffey (9); Comanche (6); Cowley (26); Crawford (6); Doniphan (7); Douglas (19); Edwards (2); Elk (15); Ellis (31); Ellsworth (2); Finney (4); Franklin (6); Greenwood (11); Hamilton (9); Harper (5); Harvey (15); Hodgeman (2); Jackson (1); Jefferson (1); Johnson (33); Kearney (2); Kingman (10); Kiowa (5); Labette (11); Lane (4); Leavenworth (4); Lincoln (2); Linn (8); Logan (4); Lyon (16); Marion (3); McPherson (1); Meade (4); Miami (9); Mitchell (2); Montgomery (13); Morris (9); Nemaha (1); Neosho (6); Ness (2); Norton (1); Osage (12); Osborne (1); Pawnee (7); Pottawatomie (8); Pratt (4); Reno (8); Rice (2); Riley (3); Rooks (4); Rush (1); Russell (9); Saline (1); Sedgwick (77); Seward (4); Shawnee (8); Stafford (15); Sumner (14); Trego (9); Unknown (3); Wabaunsee (15); Wallace (1); Washington (1); Wilson (6); Woodson (3);

Fossil History:
 Pleistocene fossil specimens have been reported from Ellsworth County.
Fossils from the Sandahl Local Fauna of McPherson County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Holman 1971; Preston 1979; Holman 1995) are assignable to this genus.
Fossils from the Kanopolis Local Fauna of Ellsworth County (Pleistocene: Rancholabrean I) (Preston 1979, Holman 1972, Holman 1984; Holman 1995) are assignable to this taxon.
Fossils from the Mount Scott Local Fauna of Meade County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Preston 1979, Holman 1987; Holman 1995) are assignable to this genus.
Fossils from the Butler Spring Local Fauna of Meade County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Tihen 1962; Preston 1979; Holman 1995) are assignable to this genus.
Natural History:
 The Spiny Softshell is found in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, ranging from swift-flowing rivers and streams to stillwater oxbows, lakes, and reservoirs. It prefers an area with sandbars or mud flats and bodies of water with soft bottoms. This species is active from March to October, spending the cold winter months buried several centimeters below the mud beneath water. These turtles are active during the day, basking, foraging for food, or resting buried in the mud in water, but there is some evidence that they are also occasionally active at night.
Knight and Collins (1977) observed a Spiny Softshell basking on the steep bank of a backwater of the Republican River in Cheyenne County on 24 May. Capron (1987) estimated 500- 700 Spiny Softshells per river mile in the lower Arkansas River valley.
This species mates during April and May. Courtship is unknown in Kansas but probably resembles that of the Smooth Softshell. Nesting occurs during the day in June and possibly July, the females crawling on land and digging a cavity 101-254 mm (4-10 inches) deep in sand or soft soil. Each female lays 3-32 round, white, hard-shelled eggs, which hatch in the fall. A nest of this species discovered in Marion County on 15 July contained eleven eggs. Capron (1987) reported that this turtle nests during the first two weeks in June in the lower Arkansas River valley. He incubated over 100 eggs of this species, all of which hatched between 10- 15 August. When egg-laying occurs late in the season, the young may stay in the nest for their first winter, emerging the following spring.
Spiny Softshells are carnivorous, eating insects, earthworms, crayfishes, fishes, tadpoles, and frogs. This turtle can swim very fast, easily capturing small fishes (Collins, 1993).
Predators of its eggs are primarily mammals. The young are eaten by fishes, other turtles, wading birds, and snakes. People are the prime predators of adults. Capron (1987) expressed concern over the destruction of nesting habitat for this turtle by off-road vehicles that damage sandbars along the lower Arkansas River.
Occurrence Activity:
 Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 172; Range: 02 Jan to 14 Dec
Remarks:
 First reported from Kansas by Cragin (1880) based on observations in Riley or Johnson ("mouth of the Blue river [sic]"), Franklin ("Ottawa"), and Douglas ("Lawrence") counties. The earliest specimen (MCZ 5758) is a juvenile collected at Ellis, Ellis County, by "Watson" and received at the MCZ from the Peabody Museum in 1886. This specimen is a paratype of Apalone spinifera hartwegi.
Cornelius Rogers removed representatives of this form from the Medicine River 1 mile south of Lake City, Barber County, Kansas, on May 27, 1934. It was also taken from a sand-bottomed prairie streamlet 6 miles east of Turon, Reno County, Kansas, on May 25, 1934; and from an algae-filled pool near a stream 2 miles northeast of Cheney, Sedgwick County, Kansas, on the same date.
Spiny Softshells may be taken year-round. The daily creel limit is eight turtles, single species or in combination (with Snapping Turtles and/or Smooth Softshells). The possession limit is three creel limits. A valid fishing license is required (unless exempt). Legal equipment: hand, hook and line, setline, hand dip net, seine, turtle trap, or gig.
Conant and Goin (1948) named UMMZ 95365 Amyda (=Apalone) spinifera hartwegi. An adult male; length of carapace, 168 mm.; collected at Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, during the end of May 1945, by Robert Young, and secured through the courtesy of Charles E. Burt. Young's field notes state: "The stream it was caught in runs through the southeast part of town and is called the Canal. It was formerly the old Chisholm Creek Bed and runs northwest and southeast and empties into the Big Arkansas River at the south side of Wichita." Two additional specimens of A. s. hartwegi (UMMZ 95363-64) and a specimen of A. mutica (UMMZ 95362) were collected at the same time and place as the type. A. s. hartwegi is no longer recognized. Cochran (1961) noted six paratypes of A. s. hartwegi in the United States National Museum (USNM 55683, 91022, 95301, 100529-30, and 123446)
This species exhibits the same ability to remove oxygen from water as the Smooth Softshell. The Spiny Softshell has an aggressive, nasty temper and will bite if not handled carefully.
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this turtle of 25 years, two months, and seventeen days.
Bibliography:
1857 Agassiz, Louis. Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. Volume 1. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, Massachusets. 452pp.
Original description of Cistudo triunguis p. 445.
Discusses the regional faunas and includes Kansas in the "Western Fauna" pp. 450-451, with such characteristic species as Apalone mutica, Apalone spinifera, Chelydra serpentina, Chrysemys picta, Graptemys geographica, Graptemys pseudogeographica, Kinosternon subrubrum, Pseudemys concinna, Sternotherus odoratus, and Trachemys scripta, though none are listed as definitively occurring in Kansas.
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.
1916 Householder, Victor H. The Lizards and Turtles of Kansas with Notes on Their Distribution and Habitat. Thesis. University of Kansas, Lawrence. 100pp.
1925 Linsdale, Jean M. Land Vertebrates of a Limited Area in Eastern Kansas. Thesis. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 312pp.
1927 Burt, Charles E. An annotated list of the amphibians and reptiles of Riley County, Kansas. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (189):12
Accounts on forty species known from the vicinity of Manhattan, Riley County, Kansas. There have been several scientific names changes since publication, which is understandable... however, some usages cannot be explained by subsequent taxonomic reappraisals(e.g.  Gastrophryne carolinensis for Gastrophryne olivacea). The writer lists Eumeces (=Plestiodon) obsoletus and E. guttulatus yet correctly reasoning that the latter is the young of the former. Within the account of Tantilla gracilis (a common form) the writer mentions that T. nigriceps was reported from Riley County by Branson (1904) but that the specimens at Kansas State were absent at the time of publication. The Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) was first reported from Riley County by Branson (1904) and is reported by the writer based on a specimen in the museum at Kansas State University by Professor E. A. Popenoe. The Prairie Rattlesnake is not currently native to Riley County, and closest reliable localities are 150 to the west.
1927 Linsdale, Jean M. Amphibians and reptiles of Doniphan County, Kansas. Copeia 1927(164):75-81
1933 Burt, Charles E. Some distributional and ecological records of Kansas reptiles. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 26():186-208
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
1934 Burt, Charles E. and W. L. Hoyle. Additional records of the reptiles of the central prairie region of the United States. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37():193-216
1935 Brennan, Lawrence A. Notes on the distribution of Amphibia and Reptilia of Ellis County, Kansas. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 114pp.
1935 Burt, Charles E. Further records of the ecology and distribution of amphibians and reptiles in the middle west. American Midland Naturalist 16(3):311-366
1936 Hurd, Myron Alec. The reptiles of Cherokee County, Kansas. Thesis. Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas. 103pp.
Under the supervision of thesis adviser Harry H. Hall. Report on 38 species (8 turtles, 7 lizards, and 23 snakes)... most unsubstantiated. Interesting inclusion are Crotalus horridus, Crotalus viridis, Kinosternon subrubrum, Opheodrys vernalis, and Phrynosoma cornutum.
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
1940 Hassler, Ira M. A preliminary survey of Chapman Creek. ():
1947 Elliott, Alice A preliminary survey and ecological study of the fishes of the South Ninnescah and Spring creek. Thesis. Kansas State University, Manhattan. pp.
1947 Smith, Hobart M. Kyphosis and other variations in soft-shelled turtles. University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History 1(6):117-124
1947 Hall, Henry H. and Hobart M. Smith. Selected records of reptiles and amphibians from southeastern Kansas Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 49(4):447-454
Report on certain Kansas specimens housed in the collection at what is now Pittsburg State University. Included are several species of dubious status today, including Cryptobranchus alleganiensis from the Neosho and Spring rivers (the only specimens from those significant drainages ever documented), Ambystoma maculatum from just north of Pittsburg, Crawford County, Heterodon nasicus from Crawford County, Opheodrys vernalis from Crawford County, Sonora episcopa from Crawford County, Agkistrodon piscivorus from Cherokee County, Crotalus atrox from Crawford County, and Crotalus viridis from Crawford County. They report several significant range extensions including Kinosternon flavescens from Turkey Creek in southeast Cherokee County, Graptemys geographica from just north of Pittsburg, Crotaphytus collaris from near Columbus, Cherokee County, Sceloporus consobrinus from just north of Pittsburg, Phrynosoma cornutum from Cherokee and Crawford counties, Heterodon platirhinos from Cherokee and Crawford counties, Haldea striatula from Crawford County, Sistrurus tergeminus from Crawford County, and a 402 lb Macrochelys temminckii in Cherokee County from just east of Chetopa (Labette County). They allude to the potential for Anaxyrus fowleri to occur in southeast Kansas and for native populations of Crotalus atrox in south central Kansas (in part from the disclosure that John R. Breukelman [then of ESU] had obtained three specimens in Woods County Oklahoma, 3/4 of a mile south of the Kansas line). None of the specimens the paper was based on, exist today.
1948 Conant, Roger and Coleman J. Goin. A new subspecies of soft-shelled turtle from the central United States, with comments on the application of the name Amyda. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (510):1-19
1949 Smith, Hobart M., C. William Nixon and Sherman A. Minton, Jr. Observations on constancy of color and pattern in soft-shelled turtles. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 52(1):92-98
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.
1951 Brumwell, Malcolm J. An ecological survey of the Fort Leavenworth Military Reservation American Midland Naturalist 45(1):187-231
Published posthumously. Lieutenant Brumwell died December 14, 1941, as a result of injuries incurred during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This paper is a condensed version of his thesis for the Master's degree.
1952 Peters, James A. Catalogue of type specimens in the herpetological collections of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (539):1-55
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 Clarke, Robert F. Turtles in Kansas. Kansas School Naturalist 2(4):1-15
1956 Clarke, Robert F. Identification of Kansas turtles. Kansas School Naturalist 2(4):1-3
1961 Cochran, Doris M. Type specimens of reptiles and amphibians in the United States National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (220):1-289
1962 Gish, Charles D. The Herpetofauna of Ellis County, Kansas. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 34pp.
1962 Webb, Robert G. North American recent soft-shelled turtles (family Trionychidae). University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History 13(10):429-611
1967 Choate, Jerry R. Wildlife in the Wakarusa Watershed of Northeastern Kansas. Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence. 46pp.
1972 Holman, J. Alan. Herpetofauna of the Kanopolis local fauna (Pleistocene: Yarmouth) of Kansas. Michigan Academic 5():87-98
1973 Webb, Robert G. Trionyx spiniferus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (140):1-4
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 Karns, Daryl, Ray E. Ashton, Jr., and Thomas Swearingen. Illustrated Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas: An Identification Manual. University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History Public Education Series(2):viii + 18
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 McLeran, V. Kansas Fish and Game News (Record size softshell turtle). Kansas Fish and Game (32(5)):7
1976 Rundquist, Eric M. Field checklist (of) amphibians and reptiles of Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society, Lawrence. pp.
1976 Grow, David. The KHS goes to Chetopa. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (13):2-3
Spring field trip (22 May 1976) along the Neosho River.
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 Miller, Larry L. Elementary students find large turtle. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (19):4
1977 Perry, Janice. KHS members achieve goal: Get Cottonmouth. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (21):3-4
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 Kern, Anita, Leslie Rice, and Michelle Warner. The turtles of Sumner County, Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (27):10-11
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
1978 Hibbard, Claude W.; Richard J. Zakrzewski, Ralph E. Eshelman, Gordon Edmund, Clayton D. Griggs, and Caroline Griggs. Mammals from the Kanopolis Local Fauna, Pleistocene (Yarmouth) of Ellsworth County, Kansas. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan 25(2):11-44
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.
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.
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 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 Simmons, John E. Record turtle from Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (58):11-13
1984 Collins, Joseph T. New records of fishes, amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1984. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (58):14-20
1985 Lynch, John D. Annotated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nebraska. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Science 13():33-57
1986 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1985. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (63):4
1987 Capron, Marty B. Selected observations on south-central Kansas turtles Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (67):13-15
1988 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1987. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (71):13-19
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. Maximum size records for Kansas amphibians and reptiles. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (81):13-17
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. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1990. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (83):7-13
1991 Voorhees, William, J. Schnell, and David Edds. Bait preferences of semiaquatic turtles in southeast Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (85):14-13
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Results of third Kansas herp count held during April-May 1991. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (85):9-13
1992 Edds, David R. Population status and incidence of anatomical abnormalities in semiaquatic turtles of the Walnut and lower Arkansas river basins. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. 58pp.
1992 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1991. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (87):12-17
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)>
1994 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 1993. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (97):15-19
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
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 Rakestraw, J. Spring herp counts: A Kansas tradition. Reptile & Amphibian Magazine (March-April):75-80
1997 Rundquist, Eric M. Addendum to 1997 KHS herp counts. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (109):14-15
1997 Graham, T. E. and A. A. Graham. Ecology of the Eastern Spiny Softshell, Apalone spinifera spinifera, in the Lamoille River, Vermont. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2():363-369
1997 Plummer, Michael V., Nathan E. Mills, and Steve L. Allen. Activity, habitat, and movement patterns of Softshell Turtles (Trionyx spiniferus) in a small stream. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(4):514-520
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 Gamble, Jerre. Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hartford, Kansas. 91pp.
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
1999 Capron, Marty B. A case of predation by Bald Eagles on Spiny Softshells in Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (117):15
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 Vitt, Christopher G. New records for aquatic turtles in Brown County, Kansas. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (121):17-18
2000 Vitt, Christopher G. Geographic distribution. Apalone spinifera. Herpetological Review 31(4):252
2001 Taggart, Travis W. The KHS 2001 spring field trip: A rainy rendezvous. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (124):12-14
2001 Collins, Joseph T. New records of amphibians and reptiles in Kansas for 2000. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter (124):6-8
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 Sheil, Christopher A. Skeletal development in turtles: Patterns of ossification through ontogeny in Apalone spinifera, Chelydra serpentina, Macrochelys temminckii, and Eretmochelys imbricata (Reptilia: Chelonii). Dissertation. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 466pp.
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 Riedle, J. Daren and A. Hynek. Amphibian and reptile inventory of the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant, Labette County, Kansas. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (2):18-20
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 Sheil, Christopher A. Osteology and skeletal development of Apalone spinifera (Reptilia: Testudinata: Trionychidae). Journal of Morphology 256():42–78
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 Schmidt, Curtis J. Geographic distribution: Apalone spinifera. Kansas. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (11):13
County record, Jefferson County, Kansas.
2005 Taggart, Travis W., Curtis J. Schmidt, and Richard S. Hayes. Geographic distribution: Apalone spinifera. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (13):10
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.
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.
2008 Taggart, Travis W. KHS 2008 spring field trip. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (25):2-3
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)>
2010 Murrow, Daniel G. Kansas Herpetological Society spring field trip. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (33):2-3
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 KHS Spring Field Trip to Chautauqua County. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (38):2-4
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 Zimmer, Stephanie A. Implications of commercial harvest of river turtles in Missouri. Thesis. University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. 96pp.
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 Taggart, Travis W. KHS 2012 Spring Field Trip to Bourbon County State Lake. Collinsorum 2(3/4):3
2013 Taggart, Travis W. KHS 2012 Summer Field Trip to Meade County State Park. Collinsorum 2(3/4):3
2013 Taggart, Travis W. KHS 2013 Spring Field Trip to Schermerhorn Park, Cherokee County. Collinsorum 2(3/4):4
2013 Taggart, Travis W. KHS 2013 Summer Field Trip to Coldwater Lake, Comanche County. Collinsorum 2(3/4):5
2013 Taggart, Travis W. KHS 2013 Fall Field Trip to Butler County State Lake. Collinsorum 2(3/4):6
2013 Mardis, Dexter and Kevin Scott. 2013 Kansas Herpetofaunal Counts. Collinsorum 2(3/4):7
2014 Distler, Donald, Mark E. Eberle, David R. Edds, Keith B. Gido, Stephen G. Haslouer, Donald G. Huggins, Thomas D. Mosher, William J. Stark, Joseph R. Tomelleri, James R. Triplett, and Edward O. Wiley. (Editor) Kansas Fishes. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence. 542pp.
Contains a photo of a submerged Apalone spinifera from the Verdigris River in Chase County, Kansas.
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 Fall Field Trip to Woodson County. Collinsorum 3(2-4):12
2015 Seim, Jeffery. Population Structure and Habitat Association of Aquatic Testudines in Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 66pp.
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. Results of the KHS Summer field trip to Caney River, Chautauqua County, Kansas. Collinsorum 5(2-3):4-5
2016 Taggart, Travis W. Results of the KHS ‘Fall’ field trip to Barber County. Collinsorum 5(2-3):6-7
2016 Maloney, Max. Habitat, activity, habits and evasion tactics of Apalone spinifera spinifera in Colorado. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 51(9):153-157
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 Fischer, Annie. Species profile: Spiny Softshell Turtle Kansas Wildlife & Parks Magazine (July-August):44
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.
2019 Hollender, Ethan C. Freshwater turtle community composition in mined land strip pit lakes and the effects of learned trap avoidance on capture rates of Sternotherus odoratus and Trachemys scripta. Thesis. Missouri State University, Springfield. 61pp.
2020 Mahr, Michael S. Distributions and statuses of map turtles (Graptemys sp.) in Kansas. Thesis. Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas.. 131pp.
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
2020 Hullinger, Allison, Zackary Cordes, Daren Riedle, and William Stark. Habitat assessment of the Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps) and the associated squamate community in eastern Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 123(1-2):137-150
2021 Rhodin, Anders G. J., John B. Iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur Georges, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk. Turtles and tortoises of the world during the rise and global spread of humanity: First checklist and review of extinct pleistocene and holocene chelonians. Chelonian Research Monographs (8):1-472
2021 Mardis, Dexter R. Herp Count: Sumner County: KHS-2020-08. Collinsorum 9(3):12-13
2021 Taggart, Meg, Amelia Jaeger, Jesse J. Taggart, and Travis W. Taggart. Herp Count: Russell County: KHS-2020-22. Collinsorum 9(3):14-15
2021 Taggart, Megan M. and Travis W. Taggart. Herp Count: Seward County: KHS-2020-27. Collinsorum 9(3):15
2021 Tyson, Kelsea, Lexis Mader, Thomas Zapletal, Jeremiah Cline, Alyssa Farney, Loegan Hill, Jainee Cowen, Camron Matteson, and David Penning. Measuring herpetofaunal biodiversity in southwest Missouri. Collinsorum 10(2):13-18
2021 Hollender, Ethan C. and Day B. Ligon. Freshwater turtle community composition in strip pit lakes on mined lands. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 16(1):183–193
2021 Powell, Alexis F. L. A., Michael S. Mahr, Jennifer L. Buchanan, Justin J. Autz, and Greg Sievert. New county and drainage records of turtles in waterways of eastern Kansas, USA Herpetological Review 52(3):584–587
Report on 58 records of seven species of turtles in rivers ofeastern Kansas that constitute new county records, new drainagerecords in counties or the state, first county records with precisedate or locality information, first records for counties in ≥ 75 years,and that fill gaps in known distributions.
2021 Thomson, Robert C., Phillip Q. Spinks, and H. Bradley Shaffer. A global phylogeny of turtles reveals a burst of climate-associated diversification on continental margins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 118(7):1-10
2022 Powell, Alexis F. L. A. and Greg Sievert. New distributional records of turtles in eastern Kansas and western Missouri, USA. Herpetological Review 53(2):265–271
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