Gila monster
Heloderma suspectum · The Gila monster is a heavy, slow-moving venomous lizard that lives in the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora.
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Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Family | Helodermatidae |
| Genus | Heloderma |
| Species | Heloderma suspectum |
Where it lives
Sonoran, Mojave and Chihuahuan deserts of the US Southwest and northwest Mexico.
Fun facts
- Gila monsters spend about 90% of their lives underground in burrows or rocky shelters.
- A medicine for type 2 diabetes was developed from a protein in Gila monster venom called exendin-4.
- Gila monsters store fat in their tails, so they do not need to eat often.
- Adult Gila monsters can eat up to one third of their body weight in a single meal.
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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).