Mexican beaded lizard debate among scientists. However, this venom has been found to contain several enzymes useful for manufacturing drugs in the treatment of diabetes, and research on the pharmacological use of its venom is ongoing. Threatened throughout its range by overcollection and habitat loss, it is a CITES protected species. The Guatemalan beaded lizard ("H. charlesbogerti" ) is one of the rarest lizards in the world, with a wild population of fewer than 200. The beaded lizards have one close living relative, the Gila monster ("H. suspectum"), as well as many extinct relatives in the Helodermatidae, whose genetic history may be traced
Mexican beaded lizard desert, tropical deciduous forests and thorn scrub forests, but are found in pine-oak forests, with elevations from sea level to 1500 m. In the wild, the lizards are only active from April to mid-November, spending about an hour per day above the ground. The Mexican beaded lizard "H. horridum" is found in Mexico, from Sonora to Oaxaca. The Rio Fuerte beaded lizard ("H. exasperatum") is found from southern Sonora to northern Sinaloa. The Chiapan beaded lizard ("H. alvarezi") is found in the northern Chiapas and the depression of the Río Lagartero in Huehuetenango to northwestern Guatemala. The ranges of these