Gila monster: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Gila monster lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Heloderma suspectum
Group	Lizards, geckos & tuatara
Status	Near threatened (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	North America
Class	Reptile
Order	Squamata
Family	Helodermatidae

Where does the Gila monster live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Gila monster in 2 countries and territories across North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the Gila monster endangered?

The Gila monster’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Near threatened” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Gila monster?

The Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) is a reptile in the order Squamata and the family Helodermatidae, genus Heloderma. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Gila monster

The Gila monster ( HEE-lə; Heloderma suspectum) is a species of venomous lizard native to the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is a heavy, slow-moving reptile, up to 22 in (56 cm) long, and it is the only venomous lizard native to the United States. The Gila monster is sluggish in nature, so it is not generally dangerous and very rarely poses a real threat to humans, though the bite is painful. Nonetheless, it has a fearsome reputation and is sometimes killed despite the species being protected by state law in Arizona.

The lower teeth have venom grooves to transmit the venom to the prey. The venom contains multiple peptides; one of these, exendin-4, formed the basis for the development of the GLP-1 receptor agonists, used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Gila monster (revision 1380921471), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q207058 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).