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Threats
habitat loss resulting from urban development and road building
STATUS:
IUCN -- VULNERABLE
SIZE:
Length:
15-23 inches (38-58 cm), largest lizard native to U.S.
POPULATION
Unknown, but
presumably small
CONSERVATION:
CITES trade restrictions
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Reluctant Monster
There is nothing very monstrous about the gila monster -- unless you're a young mouse or a baby bird. Gila monsters are the largest lizards native to North America, but they're less than two feet long. They live in the deserts of Mexico and the southwestern U.S., preying on the young of small mammals, nestling birds, and bird and tortoise eggs that they find in mesquite scrub. They are stout-bodied lizards with short legs and a short, fat tail. They're covered with bright irregular markings, usually pink, yellow or white, against black or brown scales. They are shy, retiring creatures unless they're provoked. Then they can be dangerous because they secrete a neurotoxin -- a poison that destroys nerve tissue -- from their salivary glands. In humans, their bite can result in severe pain and even death.
Using their strong, thick claws, gila monsters can climb into low bushes in search of food, but they don't do it very often; they prefer to stay on the ground. In fact, they spend most of their time underground, often in the burrows of small mammals. In some areas, they are nocturnal; in others they are active during the day. During the winter, they hibernate.
Monster Threats
For more than a century, mesquite bushlands in the Southwest have been steadily cleared for agricultural and other purposes. With the mesquite goes the gila monster's habitat. Roads, canals, and cities have spread across the desert, fragmenting what was left of the gila monster's range. We don't know how many of these lizards are left, but -- given the small size of the remaining habitat -- there can't be many.
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