Mexican beaded lizard generic name "Heloderma" means "studded skin", from the Ancient Greek words "hêlos" (ἧλος)—the head of a nail or stud—and "dérma" (δέρμα), meaning skin. Its specific name, "horrĭdum", is the Latin word meaning rough or rude. The four subspecies of beaded lizard, elevated to full species in 2013, are: Adult beaded lizards range from in length. They are substantially larger than the Gila monster, which only reaches lengths of . The snout-to-vent length of a beaded lizard averages . The average body mass of an adult beaded lizard is , about 45% heavier than the average mass of a gila monster,
Mexican beaded lizard October. Males engage in ritual combat that often lasts several hours; the victor mates with the female. The female lays her clutch of two to 30 eggs between October and December, the clutch hatching the following June or July. Young lizards are seldom seen. They are believed to spend much of their early lives underground, emerging at two to three years of age after gaining considerable size. The beaded lizard is surrounded by myth and superstition in much of its native range. It is incorrectly believed, for example, to be more venomous than a rattlesnake, can cause lightning strikes with