The U.S. state of Arkansas is located in the central part of the country. This list is derived largely from the Herps of Arkansas website.[1] Conservation status is derived from NatureServe and represents the species' status within the state rather than their worldwide status. In Arkansas, there are 25 species of frog and toad, and 32 species of newts and salamanders. Of these species, 18 are ranked as "secure", 6 are "apparently secure", 10 are "vulnerable", 11 are "imperiled", 7 are "critically imperiled", and 1 is "possibly extirpated"; 3 species are not assessed.
Order: Anura - frogs and toads
Family: Bufonidae - true toads
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Status | Notes | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarf American toad | Anaxyrus americanus charlesmithi (Bragg, 1954) | Secure[2] | Non-nominate subspecies | Statewide | ||
| Fowler's toad | Anaxyrus fowleri (Hinckley, 1882) | Secure[3] | Hybridizes with Woodhouse's toad in the southwestern part of the state, but A. woodhousii is not itself known to occur in Arkansas | Statewide |
Family: Hylidae - tree frogs
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Status | Notes | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blanchard's cricket frog | Acris blanchardi Harper, 1947 | Secure[4] | Statewide | |||
| Western bird-voiced tree frog | Dryophytes avivoca avivoca (Viosca, 1928) | Vulnerable[5] | Sometimes put in the genus Hyla | Along various waterways throughout southwestern and central Arkansas | ||
| Cope's gray tree frog | Dryophytes chrysoscelis (Cope, 1880) | Apparently secure[6] | Usually indistinguishable from Dryophytes versicolor without DNA analysis or analysis of mating call[7] Sometimes put in the genus Hyla | Most of Arkansas except the northwest | ||
| Green tree frog | Dryophytes cinereus (Schneider, 1799) | Secure[8] | Sometimes put in the genus Hyla | Most of Arkansas except north-central and northwest | ||
| Squirrel tree frog | Dryophytes squirellus (Daudin, 1800) | Critically imperiled[9] | Sometimes put in the genus Hyla | Southeastern and south-central Arkansas | ||
| Gray tree frog | Dryophytes versicolor (Le Conte, 1825) | Apparently secure[10] | Usually indistinguishable from Dryophytes chrysoscelis without DNA analysis or analysis of mating call Sometimes put in the genus Hyla | Northwestern Arkansas | ||
| Spring peeper | Pseudacris crucifer (Wied-Neuwied, 1838) | Secure[11] | Mostly statewide, more scattered throughout the east | |||
| Cajun chorus frog | Pseudacris fouquettei Lemmon et al., 2008 | Secure[12] | Statewide except southeast and north-central | |||
| Illinois chorus frog | Pseudacris illinoensis Smith, 1951 | Critically imperiled[13] | Sand prairies of eastern Clay County, although its habitat has recently been converted to agricultural land | |||
| Boreal chorus frog | Pseudacris maculata Agassiz, 1850 | Imperiled[14] | Only confirmed from Pea Ridge National Military Park in Benton County | |||
| Strecker's chorus frog | Pseudacris streckeri A. A. Wright & A. H. Wright, 1933 | Imperiled[15] | Along the Arkansas River in central and western Arkansas |
Family: Microhylidae - narrow-mouthed frogs
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Status | Notes | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern narrow-mouthed toad | Gastrophryne carolinensis (Holbrook, 1835) | Secure[16] | Statewide | |||
| Gastrophryne olivacea Hallowell, 1856 | Imperiled[17] | Generally along the Arkansas River in central and western Arkansas, southern and northwestern populations of uncertain validity |
Family: Ranidae - typical frogs
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Status | Notes | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawfish frog | Lithobates areolatus | Imperiled[18] | Subspecies L. a. areolatus across most of range, L. a. circulosus may occur in southwest | Northeast, northwest, southwest, and along Arkansas River until Lake Maumelle, where the range extends northeast to the intersection of the Black River and White River | ||
| Plains leopard frog | Lithobates blairi (Mecham et al., 1973) | Critically imperiled[19] | Northern Mississippi County | |||
| American bullfrog | Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw, 1802) | Secure[20] | Statewide | |||
| Green frog | Lithobates clamitans (Latreille, 1801) | Apparently secure[21] | Two subspecies:
| Statewide | ||
| Pickerel frog | Lithobates palustris (Le Conte, 1825) | Apparently secure[22] | Northern and southwestern Arkansas, scattered records statewide | |||
| Coastal Plains leopard frog | Lithobates sphenocephalus utricularius (Harlan, 1825) | Secure[23] | Non-nominate subspecies | Statewide | ||
| Wood frog | Lithobates sylvaticus (Le Conte, 1825) | Vulnerable[24] | Northwestern Arkansas, in Ozark Highlands and Boston Mountains |
Family: Scaphiopodidae - American spadefoots
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Status | Notes | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern spadefoot | Scaphiopus holbrookii (Harlan, 1835) | Imperiled[25] | Formerly considered the same species as Hurter's spadefoot | Northeastern Arkansas, historical records south of this along the Mississippi River may represent this species or Hurter's spadefoot | ||
| Hurter's spadefoot | Scaphiopus hurterii Strecker, 1910 | Imperiled[26] | Formerly considered the same species as the eastern spadefoot | Along various rivers in northern and central Arkansas; widespread in southwest. Populations in southeast may be this species or eastern spadefoot. Northwestern populations are extirpated | ||
| Plains spadefoot | Spea bombifrons (Cope, 1863) | Critically imperiled[27] | Along the Arkansas River in central Arkansas |
Order: Caudata
Family: Ambystomatidae - mole salamanders
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Status | Notes | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ringed salamander | Ambystoma annulatum Cope, 1886 | Vulnerable[28] | Northwestern and western Arkansas | |||
| Spotted salamander | Ambystoma maculatum (Shaw, 1802) | Secure[29] | Statewide | |||
| Marbled salamander | Ambystoma opacum (Gravenhorst, 1807) | Secure[30] | Statewide except northwest | |||
| Mole salamander | Ambystoma talpoideum Holbrook, 1838 | Vulnerable[31] | Southwestern Arkansas, and east of the Black River in the northeast | |||
| Small-mouthed salamander | Ambystoma texanum (Matthes, 1855) | Secure[32] | Most of Arkansas except north-central | |||
| Eastern tiger salamander | Ambystoma tigrinum (Green, 1825) | Vulnerable[33] | Eastern Springfield Plateau in northern Arkansas |
Family: Amphiumidae - Amphiumas
Family: Cryptobranchidae - giant salamanders
Family: Plethodontidae - lungless salamanders
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Status | Notes | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ouachita dusky salamander | Desmognathus brimleyorum Stejneger, 1895 | Secure[36] | Western and central Arkansas | ||
| Spotted dusky salamander | Desmognathus conanti Rossman, 1958 | Possibly extirpated[37] | Possibly extirpated, formerly found along eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge in eastern Arkansas | ||
| Seal salamander | Desmognathus monticola Dunn, 1916 | Introduced | Introduced to Spavinaw Creek in Benton County | ||
| Southern grotto salamander | Eurycea braggi (Smith, 1968) | Not assessed, least concern by IUCN[38] | Endemic or mostly endemic to Arkansas Forms a species complex with E. spelaea and E. nerea, only distinguished by range or genetic testing | Between Beaver Lake and the Strawberry River on the Ozark Plateau | |
| Spotted-tail salamander | Eurycea lucifuga Rafinesque, 1822 | Apparently secure[39] | Northern Arkansas, west of the Black River | ||
| Dark-sided salamander | Eurycea melanopleura (Cope, 1894) | Not assessed | Northern Arkansas, west of the Black River | ||
| Many-ribbed salamander | Eurycea multiplicata (Cope, 1869) | Secure[40] | Western-central Arkansas | ||
| Northern grotto salamander | Eurycea nerea (Bishop, 1944) | Not assessed, least concern by IUCN[41] | Forms a species complex with E. spelaea and E. braggi, only distinguished by range or genetic testing | Between the Current River and Strawberry River, possibly further locations to the west | |
| Western dwarf salamander | Eurycea paludicola (Mittleman, 1947) | Vulnerable[42] | Southern Arkansas | ||
| Western grotto salamander | Eurycea spelaea (Stejneger, 1892) | Vulnerable[43] | Forms a species complex with E. nerea and E. braggi, only distinguished by range or genetic testing | West of the White River in Benton County and Washington County | |
| Ouachita streambed salamander | Eurycea subfluvicola Bonnett, 2014 | Critically imperiled[44] | Endemic to Arkansas | Lake Catherine State Park, Hot Spring County | |
| Oklahoma salamander | Eurycea tynerensis Moore & Hughes, 1939 | Vulnerable[45] | Northern and northwestern Arkansas | ||
| Four-toed salamander | Hemidactylium scutatum (Temminck, 1838 | Imperiled[46] | Western Arkansas in central Ouachita Mountains, distinct population in Cleburne County | ||
| Western slimy salamander | Plethodon albagula Grobman, 1944 | Apparently secure[47] | Forms a species complex with P. kiamichi and P. kisatchie | Northern, central, and eastern Arkansas, with a disjointed population centered around Bradley County | |
| Ozark zigzag salamander | Plethodon angusticlavius Grobman, 1944 | Vulnerable[48] | Northwestern and north-central Arkansas | ||
| Caddo Mountain salamander | Plethodon caddoensis C. H. Pope & S. H. Pope, 1951 | Imperiled[49] | Endemic to Arkansas | Western part of the Caddo Mountain range within the Ouachita Mountains | |
| Fourche Mountain salamander | Plethodon fourchensis Duncan & Highton, 1979 | Imperiled[50] | Endemic to Arkansas | Fourche and Iron Forks mountain ranges within the Ouachita Mountains | |
| Kiamichi slimy salamander | Plethodon kiamichi Highton, 1989 | Critically imperiled[51] | Forms a species complex with P. albagula and P. kisatchie | Eastern edge of Kiamichi Mountains in Polk County, Scott County, and Sebastian County | |
| Louisiana slimy salamander | Plethodon kisatchie Highton, 1989 | Imperiled[52] | Forms a species complex with P. albagula and P. kiamichi | Southern shore of Ouachita River in Union County | |
| Rich Mountain salamander | Plethodon ouachitae Dunn & Heinze, 1933 | Imperiled[53] | Ouachita Mountains in northern Sevier County and a small part of bordering Polk County | ||
| Southern red-backed salamander | Plethodon serratus Grobman, 1944 | Vulnerable[54] | Most of the Ouachita Mountains in western Arkansas | ||
Family: Proteidae - mudpuppies
Family: Salamandridae - newts
Family: Sirenidae - sirens
Some species are unconfirmed in Arkansas but may occur. Many of these species are separated from Arkansas by the Mississippi River, and may be common in the bordering regions of Mississippi and Tennessee. Other species may be hypothesized to occur in the state but are not confirmed. Some have gene flow and form species hybrids in the state with a more widespread species, but purebred members of one of the hybrid parent species are not confirmed.[1]