Reptiles Database

Heloderma suspectum COPE, 1869

                    
 

Higher Taxa

Helodermatidae, Platynota, Sauria (lizards

Subspecies

Heloderma suspectum cinctum BOGERT & MARTÍN DEL CAMPO 1956
Heloderma suspectum suspectum COPE 1869

Common Name

Gila Monster
cinctum: Banded Gila Monster
suspectum: Reticulate Gila Monster

Synonym

Heloderma suspectum COPE 1869: 5
Heloderma suspectum — BOULENGER 1885: 302
Heloderma suspectum — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 193
Heloderma suspectum — WERMUTH 1963: 2
Heloderma suspectum — STEBBINS 1985: 169
Heloderma suspectum — LINER 1994
Heloderma suspectum suspectum — LINER 2007

Heloderma suspectum cinctum BOGERT & MARTÍN DEL CAMPO 1956
Heloderma suspectum cinctum — LOVICH & BEAMAN 2007

Location

USA (SE California, S Nevada, SW Utah, Arizona),
Mexico (Sonora)

Type locality: Sierra de la Unión, “Sonora” (= Arizona

Holotype

syntypes: USNM 2971

Comment

Venomous!

In 1869, E.D. Cope chose the epithet "suspectum" for the Gila monster because he "suspected" it was venomous

References
  • Beck, D.D. 2005. Biology of Gila Monsters and Beaded Lizards. University of California Press, xii + 211 pp.
  • Beck, D.D. & Jennings, R.D. 2003. Habitat use by Gila monsters: the importance of shelters. Herpetological Monographs 17: 111-129
  • Bernstein, Peter 1999. Morphology of the nasal capsule of Heloderma suspectum with comments on the systematic position of helodermatids (Squamata: Helodermatidae). Acta Zoologica 80: 219-230.
  • Bogert, C. M., & MARTÍN DEL CAMPO, R. 1956. The gila monster and its allies. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 109:1-238.
  • Bonetti, Mathilde 2002. 100 Sauri. Mondadori (Milano), 192 pp.
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp.
  • Boulenger, George A. 1891. Notes on the osteology of Heloderma horridum and H. suspectum, with remarks on the systematic position of the Helodermatidae and on the vertebrae of the Lacertilia Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1891: 109-118
  • Cope, E.D. 1869. [Protocol of the March 9, 1869 meeting]. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 21: 5
  • Funk, Richard S. 1966. Notes about Heloderma suspectum, along the western extremity of its range Herpetologica 22 (4): 254-258
  • Gienger, C.M. & Beck, D.D. 2007. Heads or tails? Sexual dimorphism in helodermatid lizards. Can. J. Zool. 85: 92-98
  • Hanley, K. & Hanley, S. 2003. Heloderma suspectum COPE 1869, Gila Monster. Reptilia (GB) (28): 39-42
  • Hartdegen, Ruston W. & David Chiszar 2001. Discrimination of prey-derived chemical cues by the gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) and lack of effect of a putative masking odor. Amphibia-Reptilia 22 (2): 249-252
  • Liner, Ernest A. 2007. A CHECKLIST OF THE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MEXICO. Louisiana State University Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science 80: 1-60
  • Lovich, K. & Beaman, K.R 2007. A History of Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum cinctum) Records from California with Comments on Factors Affecting their Distribution. Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci. 106 (2): 39–58
  • Seward, M. 2006. Heloderma suspectum - Gila Monster reproduction. Reptilia (GB) (47): 19-24
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Taylor, Edward Harrison 1938. Notes on the herpetological fauna of the Mexican state of Sonora. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 24 (19): 475-503 [1936]
  • Trutnau, L. 1984. Das Gilatier. Herpetofauna 6 (32): 13
  • Wilms, T. 2006. Beaded Lizards and Gila Monsters: The genus Heloderma. Reptilia (GB) (47): 12-18
  • Wilms, T. 2006. Krustenechsen - die Gattung Heloderma. Reptilia (Münster) 11 (2): 18-25
  • Woodbury, Angus Munn 1928. The reptiles of Zion National Park Copeia 1928 (166): 14-21


 
 
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