Gila Monster By: Ryan Wiles
Gila Monster The predatory scavenger
Name Gila Monster Heloderma suspectum
Habitat The Gila Monster lives in the Southwestern United States Found in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan desert.
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
Facts producing up to 28 eggs per clutch strictly terrestrial lizards hibernate beneath surface cover
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
Why? Protection status: Threatened Gila populations are shrinking due primarily to human encroachment, and they are considered a threatened species.
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?
Size Compared 2 humans Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man
Sources http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/gila-monster.html http://animal.discovery.com/guides/endangered/endangered-reptiles.html