#1816 · 🦎 reptiles

Gila Monster

🇳🇱 Gilamonster ·Heloderma suspectum

NTnear threatened 🦎 Reptiles 📍 outside Europe

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Alvaro Monter Pozos · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Yinan Li · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Jorge Jimenez Canale · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Julie Pearce · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © Yinan Li · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © H. van der Ploeg · CC BY-SA 4.0
7. © Tom Mills · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. © brandon_dietrich · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The Gila monster ( Heloderma suspectum , /ˈhiːlə/ HEE-lə ) is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. 0 ft) long, the Gila monster is the only venomous lizard native to the United States. Its close venomous relatives, the four “Mexican beaded lizards” (former subspecies of Heloderma horridum) inhabit Mexico and Guatemala. The Gila monster is venomous, although...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 3,896iNaturalist observations
threat NTnear threatened

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
3,896 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1869 (157 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Gila Monster
Nederlands: Gilamonster
scientific name: Heloderma suspectum
class: Reptilia
order: Squamata
family: Helodermatidae
IUCN Red List: NT · near threatened
sightings in NL: 0
sightings worldwide: 3,896
GBIF records in NL: 0
weight: —
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1869 by Edward Drinker Cope

IUCN in Dutch: gevoelig. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 35003, Wikidata Q207058, GBIF 2460817, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.