Gila monster

Taxonomy

The Gila monster is a species of venomous lizard native to the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora.

There are two subspecies to the girls monster, the reticulated Gila monster, the light markings are broken up to form a reticulated pattern. And the banded Gila monster, the light markings generally form an unbroken band across the back.
The Gila monster has existed since the Miocene over 10,000 years ago.
The Gila monster has one close living relative, the beaded lizard, as well as many extinct relatives in the Helodermatidae whose evolutionary history may be traced back to the Cretaceous periods

Ancestors

-Cryptolacerta

-Paraderma

-Gobiderma

large heavy bodied lizard.
large head with small beady eyes and a short fat tail.
It's skin is bright pink or orange and black in color with warty-like bumps covering its body.
The colorful, beadlike skin of the gila monster helps with camouflage
up to about 22 inches (56 centimeters) in total length and weigh around weigh 3-5 lbs.
They normally live 20 or more years in human care, though the record is 36 years.
Male Gila monsters had proportionately larger heads than females, besides that there very much identical.

Each year the gila monsters habitat gets around 33.7 inches of rain.
Gila monsters are desert dwellers, living near washes and arroyos and in semiarid rocky regions of desert scrub or grasslands.
They inhabit scrubland, succulent desert, and oak or pine-oak woodland, seeking shelter in burrows, thickets, and under rocks in locations with ready access to moisture.
Gila monsters need a basking area of 85-90 degrees and when they get out of then run around 80 degrees
Gila monsters live around many different types of reptiles like snakes, frogs and other reptiles. they also live around coyotes and mountain lions.

The Gila monster lives primarily in Arizona, Mexico the extreme southeastern corner of California, the southern tip of Nevada, and the southwestern corners of Utah and New Mexico.
the gila monster is not an invasive species anywhere.

Gila monsters most often raid nests to prey on small birds and eggs. They also catch small mammals, lizards, frogs, insects and carrion. They can eat up to one-third of their body weight in one meal.
It has been suggested that Gilas can consume all the calories they need for a year in three or four large meals.
Gilas store fat in their tails and can go for months without food.
gila monsters are scavengers and will eat almost anything it can find.
They swallow their food whole without chewing it, except for eggs, which they break open first.

Gila monsters are usually solitary animals, but they do come together in common areas for mating.
Gila monsters are at the top of the food chain, they are the top predators in their community
Neither women or male Gila monsters travel packs, but every spring males and females come together to mate.
Gila monsters mate in the spring, which is also when food is most abundant. In late April to early June, courtship and male-to-male combat takes place. Females lay two to 12 leathery eggs that spend the winter below ground and hatch the next spring after 120 to 150 days.

These lizards mate once every year in the spring, Females lay two to 12 leathery eggs that spend the winter below ground and hatch the next spring after 120 to 150 days.
gila monster mating is initiated by the males as they flick their tongues and search the scent of the females. Copulation usually lasts for 15-150 minutes.
Males also will fight for mating rights.
Gila monsters only have one mate each year.

Children hatch in the fall and remain underground. A nearly complete embryo stays within the egg through the winter and hatches in the spring
They reach sexual maturity at 4 to 5 years old and have their mating season in late spring to summer, from the months of April to July. The species has an incubation period of up to 10 months.
males and females look very much identical except males have a much larger head

Predators of Gila Monsters include humans, coyotes, and birds of prey.
Gila monsters hardly die during sexual competition but it can happen.
Deposition diseases that were common in Gila monsters and beaded lizards included hepatic lipidosis and renal gout.
Other causes of death are starvation, dehydration, and injuries.

Within the species there's plenty of competition for mating. Males will often fight but Before biting, the lizard will hiss, gape, and back away from its would-be attacker.
Gila monsters don't have much or any competition at all due to their

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