Arkansas Herpetological Atlas 2019
This species is represented by 48 records from 15 sources: 41 museum (
), 0 literature (
), 0 research (
), and 3 observation (
), with 4 additional Trauth et al. (2004) locality points remaining unsourced (
). It has been museum vouchered for 5 of 75 counties (). Years of collection range from 1934 to 2016.
This secretive, semifossorial species has uncommon occurrence in southern Arkansas. It is restricted to upland, hardwood-pine forests on sandy soils formed by Paleogene age deposits, ranging west of the Ouachita River and south of Interstate 30 and the Little Missouri River. While favorable habitats are still present in portions of Miller County, no confirmed records exist west of the Red River in the state. Much of the former habitat for this species has been converted to intensive pine plantation silviculture, which likely precludes optimal conditions for supporting populations.
