List of U.S. state reptiles

Twenty-eight

Oklahoma was the first state to name an official reptile, the common collared lizard, in 1969. Only two states followed in the 1970s, but the ensuing decades saw nominations at a rate of almost one per year. State birds are more common, with all 50 states naming one, and they were adopted earlier, with the first one selected in 1927.

Before their formal designation as state reptiles, Florida's alligator, Maryland's terrapin, and Texas's horned lizard were all mascots of a major in-state university. West Virginia's timber rattlesnake was an early American flag element dating back to 1775.

Because of their cold-blooded nature, reptiles are more common in warmer climates, and 19 of the 28 state reptiles represent southern states. Six states chose a species named after the state. A

in the United States, and several others, also turtles, are threatened at some lesser level.

State reptiles

State	State reptile	Scientific name	Year adopted	Conservation status	Photograph
Alabama	Alabama red-bellied turtle	Pseudemys alabamensis	1990	Endangered		[1][2][3]
Arizona	Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake	Crotalus willardi subspecies willardi	1986	Least Concern		[2][4][5]
California	Desert tortoise (state reptile)	Gopherus agassizii	1972	Vulnerable		[6][7]
	Leatherback sea turtle (state marine reptile)	Dermochelys coriacea	2012	Vulnerable		[8][9]
Colorado	Western painted turtle	Chrysemys picta subspecies bellii	2008	Least Concern		[10][11]
Florida	American alligator (state reptile)	Alligator mississippiensis	1987	Least Concern		[12][13]
	Loggerhead sea turtle (state saltwater reptile)	Caretta caretta	2008	Vulnerable		[14][15]
	Gopher tortoise (state tortoise)	Gopherus polyphemus	2008	Vulnerable		[16][17][18]
Georgia	Gopher tortoise	Gopherus polyphemus	1989	Vulnerable		[18][19]
Illinois	Painted turtle	Chrysemys picta	2005	Least Concern		[20][11]
Kansas	Ornate box turtle	Terrapene ornata	1986	Near Threatened		[21][22][23]
Louisiana	American alligator	Alligator mississippiensis	1983	Least Concern		[13][24]
Maryland	Diamondback terrapin	Malaclemys terrapin	1994	Near Threatened		[25][26]
Massachusetts	Garter snake	Thamnophis (whole genus)	2006	Least Concern		[27][28]
Michigan	Painted turtle	Chrysemys picta	1995	Least Concern		[29][11]
Minnesota	Blanding's turtle	Emydoidea blandingii	1998, proposed	Endangered
Mississippi	American alligator	Alligator mississippiensis	2005	Least Concern		[13][30]
Missouri	Three-toed box turtle	Terrapene carolina subspecies triunguis	2007	Near Threatened		[31][32]
Nevada	Desert tortoise	Gopherus agassizii	1989	Vulnerable		[7][24]
New Jersey	Bog turtle	Glyptemys muhlenbergii	2018	Critically endangered		[33]
New Mexico	New Mexico whiptail lizard	Cnemidophorus neomexicanus	2003	Least Concern		[34][35]
New York	Common snapping turtle	Chelydra serpentina	2006	Least Concern		[36][37]
North Carolina	Eastern box turtle	Terrapene carolina subspecies carolina	1979	Near Threatened		[32][38][39]
Ohio	Northern black racer	Coluber constrictor subspecies constrictor	1995	Least Concern		[40][41]
Oklahoma	Common collared lizard	Crotaphytus collaris	1969	Least Concern		[42][43][44]
South Carolina	Loggerhead sea turtle	Caretta caretta	1988	Vulnerable		[15][45]
Tennessee	Eastern box turtle	Terrapene carolina subspecies carolina	1995	Near Threatened		[32][46]
Texas	Texas horned lizard (state reptile)	Phrynosoma cornutum	1993	Least Concern		[47][48]
	Kemp's ridley sea turtle (state sea turtle)	Lepidochelys kempii	2013	Critically Endangered		[49][50]
Utah	Gila monster	Heloderma suspectum	2019	Near Threatened		[51][52]
Vermont	Painted turtle	Chrysemys picta	1994	Least Concern		[53][11]
Virginia	Eastern garter snake (state snake)	Thamnophis sirtalis subspecies sirtalis	2016	Least Concern		[54][28]
West Virginia	Timber rattlesnake	Crotalus horridus	2008	Least Concern		[55][56]
Wyoming	Horned lizard	Phrynosoma (whole genus)	1993	Least Concern		[57][58]

Governmental aspects

Legislation

A reptile becomes the official state symbol after it is voted in by the state legislature. Although many states require the bill to be signed by the governor, in some the enabling act is a resolution (legislature vote only). In 2004, Illinois held a popular vote to pick the painted turtle, but legislation was still required in 2005 to make the choice official.^[20]

Schoolchildren often start the campaigns for state reptiles.

Like other state symbols, a state reptile is intended to show state pride. The designation has no economic or wildlife protection effect.^[59][66] States justify their choice of state reptiles, with differing rationales, in designating legislation and on websites:

• North Carolina selected the eastern box turtle because its behavior reflects admirable human ideals: "The turtle watches undisturbed as countless generations of faster 'hares' run by to quick oblivion, and is thus a model of patience for mankind, and a symbol of our State's unrelenting pursuit of great and lofty goals."^[67]
• Maryland notes its historical associations with the diamondback terrapin: "Chesapeake colonists ate terrapin prepared Native-American fashion, roasted whole in live coals. Abundant and easy to catch, terrapin were so ample that landowners often fed their slaves and indentured servants a staple diet of terrapin meat. Later, in the 19th century, the turtle was appreciated as gourmet food, especially in a stew laced with cream and sherry."^[68]
• Ohio touts the ubiquity and practical benefits of its reptile: "The
  black racer snake was adopted because it is native to all 88 Ohio counties and is called the 'farmer's friend' because it eats disease-carrying rodents."^[69]
• Texas stresses the conservation needs of the Texas horned lizard: "It is perhaps most appropriate for designation as an official state symbol because, like many other things truly Texan, it is a threatened species."[70]

Use

The state reptile concept serves education. Some states offer lesson plans using the reptile for teachers to introduce children to the legislative process, discuss state geography, or develop state patriotism.^[71][72][73] Many Secretaries of State have a "kids page" describing the reptile.^[74][75][76] Some, such as Missouri's Robin Carnahan, tout state-provided coloring books.^[77]

Rate of adoption and comparison to other symbols

In 1969, Oklahoma designated the first state reptile when it chose the common collared lizard or "mountain boomer".^[42][66] Two states followed suit in the 1970s, seven states in the 1980s, eight states in the 1990s, and eight states in the 2000s.^{[nb 1]} As of March 2019, twenty-eight of the fifty states have named a state reptile; Utah and New Jersey both adopted an official state repitile in the 2010s.^[51][33]

In contrast to state reptiles, state birds have been more rapidly adopted, with the first state designating one in 1927 and the fiftieth in 1973.

Perhaps owing to the greater presence of cold-blooded (

In contrast, in the north half of the central and western states, only one, Wyoming, has named a state reptile.[57] In the Great Lakes region, there is a cluster of three states (Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio) that named a reptile.^[20][29][40] In the Northeast, there is another cluster of three participating states (Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont).^[27][36][53]

Neither of the noncontiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii, have named a state reptile.

A United States flag with a timber rattlesnake predates the stars and stripes flag. In 1775, Christopher Gadsden developed an emblem with a coiled rattlesnake with the words "Don't tread on me" on a yellow background. Versions of the Gadsden flag were used by the Continental Navy's first commodore, early Marines, and minutemen and regular army units in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.^[97]

The timber rattlesnake is also famous for appearing on the

Gadsden Flag	First Navy Jack

West Virginia named the timber rattlesnake as its state reptile in 2008.[55] A 2009 article, "West Virginia's state reptile", in the state wildlife magazine drew a connection to the older American rattlesnake symbol:

Actually, the warning on the early flags was not meant to depict the timber rattlesnake as being ferocious or the American people as being warlike. The true message was that the citizens of the Colonies were a peaceable and freedom-loving people, but if England's King George III continued with his oppressive policies toward the Colonies, then they would respond with great wrath. This response would be much like that of a timber rattlesnake, which is peaceable and slow to anger, but will attack aggressively when provoked and will not stop fighting until the enemy retreats.

Benjamin Franklin, writing as an anonymous person, submitted the following statement concerning the disposition of the timber rattlesnake to the Pennsylvania Journal in 1775: "She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage...she never wounds ‘till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her."^[99]

In contrast to the positive symbology of the rattlesnake, some political use has been for criticism. The snapping turtle (New York) was the central feature of a famous American political cartoon. Published in 1808 in Federalist protest of the Jeffersonian Embargo Act of 1807, the cartoon showed a snapping turtle, jaws locked fiercely to the rear of an American trader, who was attempting to carry a barrel of goods onto a British ship. The trader was seen whimsically uttering the words "Oh! this cursed Ograbme" (the backwards spelling of "embargo").^[100][101] Also, during the Great Depression, the gopher tortoise (Georgia, Florida's official tortoise) was known as the "Hoover chicken" (a sarcastic reference to President Herbert Hoover) because it was eaten by poor people out of work.^[102][103]

Athletics

Three states chose reptiles that were already prominently associated with a major university in the state:

• Florida honored the American alligator in 1987, but the Gators have titled the University of Florida's teams since 1911. In that year, a printer made a spur-of-the-moment decision to print an alligator emblem on a shipment of the schools football pennants; the mascot stuck, perhaps because the team captain's nickname was Gator.^[104]
• Maryland honored the diamondback terrapin in 1994, but the mascot of Maryland's main state university in College Park has been the Terrapins or "Terps" since 1932. In that year, the football coach, who had encountered the animal as a boy near the Chesapeake Bay, proposed it as a mascot to oppose the Wildcats, Tigers, and such of enemy teams.^{[105][nb 4]}
• Texas honored the Texas horned lizard in 1993, but private Texas Christian University has had the associated mascot the Horned Frog since 1896. According to legend, the football team identified with the lizards found on the practice field as the athletes and reptiles were similarly scrappy. The college founder's son, Addison Clark Jr., a faculty member and the initiator of the football team, had been fascinated by the creatures. By 1897, the lizard appeared as a logo on the front of the school yearbook, which Clark had also started and was managing.^[106]

Biology

In terms of common divisions of reptiles, turtles are most popular. Fifteen of the twenty-seven states give them official status.

Writing in 1988, naturalist J. Whitfield Gibbons asserted that awareness of the conservation needs of reptiles had lagged that of large mammals and game species.^[110] However, comparison of different editions of the Golden Guide does show increasing sensitivity to U.S. reptile conservation over the last half of the 20th century.

In their 2000 review article "The global decline of reptiles, deja vu amphibians", Gibbons and colleagues argue that while the general public is more sympathetic to amphibians (perhaps because of their soft skin), reptile species are actually more endangered. Although populations can decline from natural causes, and it is difficult to prove the exact reason for a specific reptile's decline, human actions are behind most of the species' problems. Gibbons et al. describe six causes of reptile reductions, incidentally furnishing several examples of state reptile species impacted.^[111]

• commercial ranching.^{[111][117][118]}
• longleaf pine forest.^[111][119]
• fire ants have reduced the Texas horned lizard (Texas) from part of its range.^[111][122]
• Environmental pollution. Water pollution is primarily seen in turtles and crocodilians and can affect their eggs and sex characteristics.^[111] Male American alligators (Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi) have been found with lowered testosterone and altered gonads in a chemically contaminated lake.^[111][123]
• Disease. Increased disease in wild populations often follows weakening from other environmental stressors, such as habitat loss.^[111] Upper lung infection and shell diseases have been implicated in the decline of the desert tortoise (California, Nevada) and gopher tortoise (Georgia, Florida's state tortoise).^{[111][124][125][126]}
• Climate change represents a future threat by changing habitat. Reptiles are more unsafe than birds because they have less ability to move large distances.^[127] Gibbons and colleagues do not describe any examples of impact on specific state reptile species, although they mention a general concern for turtles and crocodilians having their populations become imbalanced—the animals sexes are determined by temperature of the eggs.^[111]