Gila Monster - National Geographic Kids

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Common Name: Gila monsterScientific Name: Heloderma suspectumType: ReptilesDiet: CarnivoreGroup Name: LoungeAverage Life Span In Captivity: Up to 40 yearsSize: 20 inchesWeight: 4 pounds

The Gila (pronounced HEE-luh) is the largest lizard native to the United States. Their black bodies are covered in beadlike scales with bright spots, blotches, or bands of pink, orange, or yellow, which probably warn other animals to stay away.

Their bulky bodies, slow-moving stride, thick forked tongue, and snorting hisses reinforce the name Gila monster. They live in the dry, arid regions such as the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. They are named after the Arizona Gila River Basin, where they were first discovered.

Check out where Gila monsters live.

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Gila monsters are more likely to use their venom on a predator than on prey. They clamp their jaws down with the power of a vise grip. Then the venom in their bottom jaw flows through their grooved teeth into the victim. Although the Gila's bite is extremely painful, no human death has been reported. Gilas are sluggish creatures that feed primarily on eggs raided from bird nests and newborn mammals, such as rabbits and squirrels. They sometimes eat quail eggs whole without crushing the shells.

They spend about 95 percent of their time underground and emerge only to hunt for food or to take a sunbath. They don't need to eat very often because they can store fat in their large tails.

1:46Gila monsters have venom in their saliva glands that paralyzes prey! Learn more amazing facts about these amazing creatures in this video from National Geographic Kids.

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