Gila monster
The Gila monster (pronounced /ˈhiːlə/) is a venomous desert lizard. The Gila monster’s name comes from the Gila River in Arizona, USA.
| Gila monster | |
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| At the American International Rattlesnake Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Anguimorpha |
| Family: | Helodermatidae |
| Genus: | Heloderma |
| Species: | H. suspectum
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| Binomial name | |
| Heloderma suspectum Cope, 1869
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The Gila monster is heavy and slow for a lizard. It can grow up to 2 feet(60 cm) long. Its skin looks like beads and is black, pink, orange, and yellow. It looks a lot like the Mexican beaded lizard, which is its closest relative.
The Gila monster can bite quickly and hold on tightly, but it does not kill humans. It usually eats small rodents, young birds and eggs. The lizard chews its prey, injecting its venom (poison) into the animal through teeth in its lower jaw. The Gila monster can also store food in its tail.
In 2005 a medicine to treat diabetes was made from the Gila monster’s saliva. Some people who take it call it "lizard spit" as a joke.
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Wikispecies has information on: Heloderma suspectum. |
Gila Monster Media
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The first drawing of a Gila monster by Baird, S. F. (1857)
A plate from the Century Cyclopedia that depicts the Gila monster
The dorsal skin of a Gila monster
The total molt of a female Gila monster about 2 weeks before egg-laying
The head of a Gila monster with bead-like scales and strong forelegs and claws suitable for digging
A Gila monster in captivity
Venom grooves and position of the exchange teeth
Gila monster skull showing dentition (osteoderms are fused with the forehead), photo by A. Laube
