Reptiles & Amphibians of Colorado

There are 18 species of amphibian (17 native and 1 introduced), 7 species of turtle (6 native and 1 introduced), 32 species of snake, and 20 species of lizard (19 native and 1 introduced) currently recognized in the state of Colorado. 

*Reference maps of county boundaries and Ecoregions in Colorado can be found here.

Those wishing to submit photographs for CO PARC to consider publishing on our website, please read the detailed information on the bottom of this page!
This is a joint project of the CO PARC Scientific Standards and Eduction & Outreach committees. Please contact us if you have questions/comments or see any errors that need to be corrected!  
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*Colorado PARC follows the naming standards of Crother et al., with the exception of more recent taxonomic revisions (as noted in accounts).  The most recent version is available in .pdf on the SSAR website (linked below).

Crother et al.  Online. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding (7th ed.).  Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

*We are looking for volunteers to compile Species Accounts!  

Please contact us if you are interested in writing accounts.  Be sure to list (by priority) which species you are interested in compiling an account for, your phone number and e-mail address.  Contact the appropriate Species Account Manager to see if the species you are interested in is available and to get the most recent guidelines and template.  They will work to find an editorial reviewer for the account(s) once drafts are completed, and will get comments back to for a single revision.
The following species accounts are unassigned - please contact [email protected] if you would like to volunteer to write an account!
Thanks to our current & past Species Account editors!
  • Lauren Livo
  • Danny Martin 
  • Tom Mathies 
  • Ben Fisher 
  • Wendy Lanier 

*Do you have quality photographs to add to our Species Accounts?

Information for photographers - a few rules, expectations, and guidelines:

  • You must be the photographer and images should not be overly-processed.  If you have original files, CO PARC can process images for you if you are not able. 
  • By submitting photographs to CO PARC, you agree that CO PARC reserves the right to crop, downsize, or otherwise make minor image adjustments as needed to best fit the website content and/or represent the subject. Submitting photos for consideration does not guarantee that they will be used (but if you follow the guidelines here, we see no reason why your photos will not be used). Your submitting photos also means that you understand CO PARC is a non-profit conservation organization with no intent/ability to provide monetary or other compensation for use of your images. You can request that CO PARC delete any of your images at any time, with the realization that this is a volunteer-based organization and it may take up to 5 days to remove images upon request.
  • Images should be of animals in situ ["...to examine the phenomenon exactly in place where it occurs (i.e. without moving it)"], whenever possible.  Other photos may be considered if they demonstrate biology or behavior that is unique and not otherwise documented - as long as applicable regulations were followed (see regulations page). Photos not taken in situ will be designated as 'posed' on the site - so please let us know which of your images were posed.
  • Minimum size: Images must be at least 1,000 pixels on the long edge (1,400 preferred, @ 300 dpi).  Cropped images are fine as long as they meet this minimum size requirement. File size should be <2 MB if you follow this guideline. 
  • Watermarks: CO PARC can add a small copyright watermark with your name upon request, otherwise we will provide credit within the caption. We prefer to add watermarks; if we need to crop images for any reason it is easier for us to add the watermark. 
  • Other Credits: Please let us know how you would like to be credited. We can provide a URL to a webpage, your name, and/or e-mail address.  Be sure you let us know how you want your name, webpage, and/or e-mail address written and spelled! We are unable to link to websites that contain any highly-controversial content, and will only credit your name or provide a link to your e-mail in that case. 
  • Images are currently download-protected on our website.  If you want to provide images for others to use, please let us know and we will publish your e-mail address along with your photos so that people can contact you directly.  We may have photo download pages in the future, but will not allow free download of images without your express written consent!
For each image, we need the following information:
  • Species name (we can help with that if you're not sure).
  • County & State photo was taken in. We will consider photos of Colorado species that were taken in other states (this can be useful in seeing geographic variation in color or pattern).
  • Photographer's (your) name, e-mail address, website URL (for credits). You only need to provide a name, but can provide all 3 of these if you want them posted. Please provide spelling of your name as you'd like it to appear in credits, and which method(s) of credit you prefer.

*Please only submit up to 6 images per message! If you have dozens (or more) images you'd like to provide, please contact us to coordinate the best way to submit images; we can arrange to meet you with an external drive to copy files, or can provide a secure website upload.

*Submit to: [email protected], with Subject: "Photos for website". 
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Visit our parent organization, Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), for more information on national conservation efforts and other regional groups.
​This website and any products posted herein are  officially recognized by the national entity, Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), as the efforts of an approved PARC chapter.