Mexican beaded lizard Mexican beaded lizard The Mexican beaded lizard ("Heloderma horridum") is a species of lizard in the family Helodermatidae, one of the two species of venomous beaded lizards found principally in Mexico and southern Guatemala. It and its congener (member of the same genus) the Gila monster ("Heloderma suspectum") are the only lizards known to have evolved an overt venom delivery system. The Mexican beaded lizard is larger than the Gila monster, with duller coloration, black with yellowish bands. As it is a specialized predator that feeds primarily upon eggs, the primary use of its venom is still a source of
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