Facts you don't know about Gila Monster
Facts you don't know about Gila Monster
2. Heavy bodied with thick short conical tail. Back has small pink beadlike scales. The tail is used to store fat. There are two subspecies, the banded Gila monster (H. s.cinctum) and the reticulate Gila monster (H. s.suspectum), which has a more mottled pattern. Those in the northern parts of their range are usually of the banded subspecies, and those in the southern part of their ranger are usually reticulate.
3. Gila monsters are desert dwellers, living near washes and arroyos and in semiarid rocky regions of desert scrub or grasslands. They live in burrows of other animals or burrows they dig or under rocks. The Gila monster spends 95% of it time underground in or at the opening of its burrow. Its home range is about one square mile.
4. The family name Helodermatidae means “studded skin,” referring to the beaded look of its dorsal scales, due to the presence of osteoderms (small bones) under the scales. In essence, the beads on their skin are actually small individual raised bones within their scales giving them armor-like protection.
5. It has an extremely acute sense of smell through it flickering tongue that it uses to locate prey, especially eggs. Its sense of smell is so acute that it can dig up chicken eggs buried 6inches deep and can follow a trail made by rolling an egg.
6. Its strong claws are useful for climbing trees to nests as well as digging its burrows.
7. Prey may be crushed to death or eaten alive. Its venomous bite is used as a defense measure rather than to attack prey.
8. The Gila monster is named for the Gila River in whose drainage it is a common resident.
9. The Gila monster was the first venomous animal to receive protective legislation when, in 1952, Arizona enacted a law that made it illegal to collect, kill, or sell them in Arizona.
10. Gila monsters are not aggressive and prefer to avoid people. If threatened, it will move or run away or move deeper into its burrow. Sometimes it will just freeze in place. If pursued, it will back away hissing with its mouth open, and if provoked can attack surprisingly quickly.
11. Generally, the Gila monster will occupy two burrows over a course of the year. The one located in a higher elevation is used during cooler months while the lower one is used during the warmer months.
12. The Gila monster and the Mexican beaded lizard are the only two egg-laying lizards whose eggs incubate over the winter.
13. The two generally recognized venomous lizards in the world are the Gila monster and its cousin the Mexican beaded lizard. Recent research speculates that the monitor lizards and iguanas also produce venom.
14. The beaded lizard is larger than the Gila monster but has duller coloration, black with yellowish bands of differing width depending on the subspecies.
15. The Gila monster is able to survive in a harsh environment because it has a low metabolic resting rate; is able to eat large meals; and store energy (fat) in its tail and body, making it unnecessary to hunt often.
16. It has been suggested that its entire yearly energy needs are met in three or four large meals. For this reason, it is not often seen above ground.
17. The Gila monster’s characteristic bony scales were common among dinosaurs but are unusual in today’s reptiles. For that reason, it is sometimes called a living fossil.
18. Rather than injecting it venom through hollow fangs as venomous snakes do, Gila monsters latch onto its victim and chew the venom into the wound through grooves in its enlarged, grooved teeth in the lower jaw. The venom is produced in modified salivary glands and is a mild neurotoxin. The bite is described as extremely painful, although initial pain is generally confined to the area of the bite. Victims may also experience localized swelling, nausea, vomiting, high blood pressure, weakness, faintness, excessive perspiration, chills and fever. While the bite is painful, no human deaths have been recorded.
19. The Gila monster’s venom is about as toxic as that of western diamondback rattlesnake, but only a small amount is introduced when bitten.
20. There is no anti-venom for the Gila monster’s bite.
21. Of the 13 bites treated by Tucson Poison Center in 2000: 7 victims were dogs; 1 was a cow; and 5 were humans.
22. A component of the venom called exendin-4 has been synthesized and approved in 2005 for management of type-2 diabetes. This substance stimulates the secretion of insulin when blood sugar levels rise, allowing diabetics to keep their blood sugar levels under control.
23. Translating its Latin name Heloderma suspectum: Heloderma means "studded skin", while suspectum was included because the investigating paleontologist "suspected" that lizard might be venomous due to the grooves in its teeth.
24. Gila monsters can be observed in the wild immersing themselves in puddles of water after a summer rain, dispelling the popular belief that holding them under water will cause them to release their bite.
25. The Gila monster becomes sexually mature at 3 to 5 years.
26. Gila monster myths: Its breath is toxic enough to kill a human; it can spit venom; it can leap several feet in the air to attack; it does not have an anus and therefore expels waste from its mouth; it will not release its bite until the sun goes down; its bite will kill you.
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