1. Gila Monster
By: Ryan Wiles

2. Gila Monster
The predatory scavenger

3. Name
Gila Monster
Heloderma suspectum

4. Habitat The Gila Monster lives in the Southwestern United States
Found in the
Mojave, Sonoran,
and Chihuahuan
desert.

5. Characteristics Stays underground 95% of its life
Only one of a handful of poisonous lizards
occasionally omnivorous, eating blossoms and buds in the spring
Eats eggs and helpless
young of reptiles, birds,
and small mammals

6. Facts producing up to 28 eggs per clutch strictly terrestrial lizards
hibernate beneath surface cover

7. Facts Cont. Average lifespan 20 to 30 years Size: 20 in (50 cm)
Weight: 4 lbs (1.8 kg) Weight: 4 lbs (1.8 kg)
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

8. Why? Protection status: Threatened
Gila populations are shrinking due primarily to human encroachment, and they are considered a threatened species.

9. Questions on the Gila What is its the average lifespan?
How much does it weigh?
Is it threatened or endangered?
Why is its population shrinking?
How much of its life does it spend above ground?

10. Size Compared 2 humans
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

11. Sources