Animalia > Chordata > Squamata > Helodermatidae > Heloderma > Heloderma horridum

Heloderma horridum (Beaded Lizard)

Synonyms: Heloderma hernandesii; Heloderma horridum horridum; Trachyderma horridum

Wikipedia Abstract

The Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum) is the most famous of the four species of venomous beaded lizards found principally in Mexico and southern Guatemala. It and its congener the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) are the only lizards known to have evolved an overt venom delivery system. The beaded lizard is larger than the Gila monster, but has duller coloration, black with yellowish bands of differing width depending on the species. As it is a specialized predator that feeds primarily upon eggs, the primary use of its venom is still a source of debate among scientists. However, this venom has been found to contain several enzymes useful for manufacturing drugs in the treatment of diabetes, and research on the pharmacological use of its venom is ongoing.
View Wikipedia Record: Heloderma horridum

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  2.399 lbs (1.088 kg)
Birth Weight [2]  30 grams
Female Weight [2]  2.326 lbs (1.055 kg)
Diet [3]  Carnivore
Gestation [2]  5 months 20 days
Litter Size [2]  8
Litters / Year [2]  1
Maximum Longevity [5]  34 years
Reproductive Mode [4]  Oviparous
Snout to Vent Length [2]  15 inches (37 cm)
Venomous [6]  Yes
Habitat Substrate [4]  Terrestrial

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Hattah-Kulkyne NP and Murray-Kulkyne Park National Park II 122831 Victoria, Australia

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands Mexico, United States No
Mesoamerica Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama No

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Length–weight allometries in lizards, S. Meiri, Journal of Zoology 281 (2010) 218–226
♦ 2Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 3Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 4Meiri, Shai (2019), Data from: Traits of lizards of the world: variation around a successful evolutionary design, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f6t39kj
♦ 5de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 6Living Hazards Database, Armed Forces Pest Management Board, U.S. Army Garrison - Forest Glen
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0