Gila monster Gila monster The Gila monster ("Heloderma suspectum", ) is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. A heavy, typically slow-moving lizard, up to long, the Gila monster is the only venomous lizard native to the United States and one of only two known species of venomous lizards in North America, the other being its close relative, the Mexican beaded lizard ("H. horridum"). Although the Gila monster is venomous, its sluggish nature means it represents little threat to humans. However, it has acquired a fearsome reputation, and is sometimes killed despite
The Lizard du Maurier based many novels on this part of Cornwall, including "Frenchman's Creek". The Lizard was featured on the BBC television programme "Seven Natural Wonders" as one of the wonders of the South West, and on the BBC series "Coast". In James Clavell's novel "Shōgun", ship's pilot Vasco Rodrigues challenges John Blackthorne to recite the latitude of the Lizard to verify that Blackthorne is a fellow seaman. The Jennifer McQuiston 2015 novel "The Spinster's Guide to Scandalous Behavior" is set primarily in the fictional village Lizard Bay on the Lizard in the mid-nineteenth century. In the television adaptation of "Horatio