1. Gila Monster
Daniel Adams
Ecology

2. Scientific Name
Heloderma suspectum

3. Natural Habitat and Range
Habitat - Desert and semiarid regions of gravelly and sandy soils
under rocks, in burrows of other animals and in holes it digs itself
range includes Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of extreme southwestern Utah, southern Nevada, southeastern California, Arizona and southwestern New Mexico into Mexico

4. Map of Range and Habitat

5. Life History and Characteristics
Average life span in the wild: 20 to 30 years
Size: 20 in (50 cm)
Weight: 4 lbs (1.8 kg)
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

6. Diet – Climate Requirements
one of the two types of lizards that are carnivorous and venemous
lethargic creatures - feed primarily on eggs raided from nests and newborn mammals
spend more than 95 percent of their lives in underground burrows, emerge only to feed and to bask in sun
store fat in their oversized tails and go months between meals

7. Reproduction
Mates with the opposite sex
Females lay and protect eggs

8. Random Facts stout-bodied lizard that grows 18 to 24 inches in length
black, orange, pink or yellow broken blotches, bars and spots, with bands extending onto its blunt tail
face is black, and it has small, bead-like scales across its back
named for the Gila River Basin of the southwestern United States

9. Why are they endangered?
endangered because farmers are destroying their habitat
also highly prized on the live market as pets

10. Ecology and Conservation
Eats eggs of other desert animals, controlling their populations.
Protected in US and Mexico for almost 50 years.

11. Quiz 1. Where does the Gila Monster live?
2. How long is the average life span?
3. How does it have its babies?
4. How long can they grow?
5. What is it named for?

12. Works Cited www.gila-monster.org