GILA MONSTER

hēˈlə, venomous lizard, Heloderma suspectum, found in the deserts of the SW United States and NW Mexico. It averages 18 in. (45 cm) in length, with a large head, stout body, thick tail that acts as a food reservoir, and short legs with strong claws. Its skin is covered with beadlike scales. Its coloring is marbled, a combination of brown or black with orange, pink, yellow, or dull white. The lizard's movements are slow and clumsy. It feeds on young birds and mammals and on eggs. Because the neurotoxic venom is produced by glands in the lower jaw and the grooved teeth through which it passes are set far back in the mouth, venom does not always enter the wound when a victim is bitten. The gila monster must fix its teeth deeply in a certain position to give a fatal bite. The only other member of the genus Heloderma, the beaded lizard, H. horridum, is a somewhat larger black and yellow lizard, found in W Mexico. These two species are the only known venomous lizards. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Squamata, family Helodermatidae.

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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Questia Books and Articles on: Gila Monster
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books on: Gila Monster  - 427 results

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1.
Sacred Words: A Study of Navajo Religion and Prayer
Book by Sam D. Gill; Greenwood Press, 1981
Subjects: Navajo Indians--Religion
...malevolent power is naayeii , which may be translated as "monster." The two dark pollens that you hold, you will cross...safety which succeeds the rebuffed naayeii attack. Monster missed, monster missed me, I am safe, safe at last, May my winters...
2.
International Wildlife Encyclopedia - Vol. 7
Book by Maurice Burton, Robert Burton; Marshall Cavendish, 2002
Subjects: Zoology--Dictionaries
...frog 957 Giant forest hog 958 Giant panda 960 Giant rat 964 Giant snail 966 Gibbon 968 Gila monster 972 Giraffe 975 Glassfish 978 Glass lizard 980 Gliding frog 982 Gliding possum 984 Glowworm...
3.
Semantic Analysis
Book by Paul Ziff; Cornell University Press, 1960
Subjects: English Language--Semantics, Semantics
...utterance 1 : 1 There is a purple gila monster on my lap blinking at me. Here...and not the physical environment: gila monsters are nasty little beasts and there...to remember There is a purple gila monster on my lap. then it is to remember...
4.
Earth Is My Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting
Book by Trudy Griffin-Pierce; University of New Mexico Press, 1992
Subjects: Navajo Indians--Religion, Navajo Mythology, Sandpaintings
...Male Shootingway / 111 5.6 "Gila Monster," Hand Tremblingway / 112...body as he or she says prayers to Gila Monster; the answer comes either through...as a direct revelation from the Gila Monster Hill 1935:67-68 . Stargazing...
5.
Gordon McLendon: The Maverick of Radio
Book by Ronald Garay; Greenwood Press, 1992
Subjects: Executives--United States--Biography, Mclendon, Gordon, Motion Picture Producers And Directors--United States--Biography, Radio Broadcasting--United States--Biography
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journal articles on: Gila Monster  - 15 results

       More journal Results: 1-10 11-15 >>  
 
1.
Divination as a Way of Knowing: Embodiment, Visualisation, Narrative, and Interpretation
Journal article by Barbara Tedlock; Folklore, Vol. 112, 2001
Subjects: Cognition--Social aspects, Divination--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Knowledge, Theory of--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Narration (Rhetoric)--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Symbolism--Criticism, interpretation, etc.
...closed, she sings one or two songs addressed to the Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum), a night-hunting beaded lizard...trembler. Concentrating on the imaginary form of the Gila Monster, she asks it silently for information concerning the...
2.
Rio Rico and the Great Arizona Land Rush
Journal article by Thomas E. Sheridan; Journal of the Southwest, Vol. 48, 2006
Subjects: Arizona--History, Land development--History, Real estate development--History
...centipede, and three species of poisonous lizard: namely, the Gila monster, the land speculator and the real estate broker," Edward...not urban. They restricted themselves to the Salt and Gila river valleys, where huge irrigation projects transformed...
3.
"Tell Me a Woman's Story": the Question of Gender in the Construction of Waheenee, Pretty-Shield, and Papago Woman
Journal article by Christine Colasurdo; American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 21, 1997
Subjects: Indians Of Central America, Indians Of Mexico, Indians Of North America
...all day -- all day long, and the young women do the cooking. While I work I hear voices: Put a turtle there! Put a Gila monster here! Here put a zig-zag" (PW86). Readers are allowed to view her not as a stereotype of the Indian woman or "red mother...
4.
Senses of Place-Y De Placer-In Baja Arizona
Journal article by Gary Paul Nabhan; Journal of the Southwest, Vol. 50, 2008
Subjects: Cities and towns--Description and travel, Deserts, Sonoran Desert--Description and travel
...came to a halt, I climbed out and walked right into the bright lights of the almost-never closed Hissing Mouth of the Gila Monster Bookstore. And yet before I had even a moment to glance around for a paperback novel, a 33 rpm album or an eight-track...
5.
Instructive Feedback: Effects of a Presentation Variable
Journal article by Margaret Gessler Werts, Nicola K. Caldwell, Mark Wolery; Journal of Special Education, Vol. 37, 2003
Subjects: Special education--Research
...commonality of the states in the set. Set 1 targets were Arizona and Nevada, and instructive feedback words were pueblo and gila monster; Set 2 targets were Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, and instructive feedback words were rural, pioneer, and prairies...
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magazine articles on: Gila Monster  - 22 results

       More magazine Results: 1-10 11-20 21-22 >>  
 
1.
Modern Science Takes a Look at an Ancient Monster
Magazine article by Bert Gildart; National Wildlife, Vol. 36, February 1998
Subjects: Chihuahuan Desert--Plants and animals, Lizards--Behavior
...New Mexicos Chihuahuan Desert, a Gila monster claws to the surface and peers...following her signals, this particular Gila monster is also one of a select few that...is known among colleagues as Dr. Gila Monster. "Gila monsters," he says, "function...
2.
Venomous Lizards of the Desert
Magazine article by Daniel D. Beck; Natural History, Vol. 113, July 2004
Subjects: Anatomy & physiology, Animal behavior, Reptiles & amphibians, Toxins
...beaded lizards sister species, the Gila monster (H. suspectum). Along with those...I assumed, for instance, that Gila monsters are strictly creatures of daylight...morning. As a result, seeing a Gila monster was the last thing on my mind when...
3.
CREATURES THAT TIME FORGOT - from a Handful of Bugs and Birds to Mountain Beavers, Species That Have Changed Little after Tens to Hundreds of Millions of Years Both Fascinate and Puzzle Biologists Who Study "Living Fossils"
Magazine article by Lisa W. Drew; National Wildlife, June 2002
Subjects: Evolution--Research, Fossils--Research, Species diversity--Research
...crane (10 million years old), the Gila monster (30 million years old) or the tailed...notes Eisner. The Southwests Gila monster, at least 30 million years old...threatened by drought or other problems. Gila monsters can live for as long as three years...
4.
Tim Whitworth
Magazine article by Lynn Pyne; Southwest Art, Vol. 29, January 2000
...so Whitworth brought home creatures like turtles, skunks, and owls instead. "Mom never let me have a rattlesnake or a Gila monster, though," he laments. The artist studied the attitudes, physiology, and behavior of western wildlife through the years...
5.
A Web Page for Every Species
Magazine article; Whole Earth, Fall 2000
Subjects: Animals--Information services, Species--Portrayals, depictions, etc.
...clans" to honor their life-form with a totemic icon. At birth, you might become a member of the Sago Palm Clan or the Gila Monster Clan. As always, some would take their totemic species as a spiritual ally and others might use their clan name as an...
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newspaper articles on: Gila Monster  - 11 results

       More newspaper Results: 1-10 11-11 >>  
 
1.
GOPAC, Go
Newspaper article; The Washington Times, March 4, 1996
Subjects: Gingrich, Newt
...is perhaps best described as the gila monster of Washington politics. The gila...black and orange stripes. When the gila monster sinks its teeth into its prey...death-grip of ferocious tenacity. The gila monster is a lizard that just cant let...
2.
Dr Scott's Surgery
Newspaper article; Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), June 4, 2007
Subjects: Diabetes, Diabetes mellitus, Diabetes therapy, Surgery
...diabetes. This has been isolated from a compound found in Gila monster saliva! Jasper Carrott used to do a very funny skit...poisonous lizard found in North America, known as the Gila monster. Exanatide, the new drug, is the synthetic form. Unlike...
3.
The Leopards of London; New Figures Reveal Four Big Cats Living in Southwark- and Two Wolves, 45 Poisonous Snakes, Three Camels, Four Ostriches and a Crocodile Being Kept in London
Newspaper article; The Evening Standard (London, England), March 23, 2007
Subjects: Poisonous snakes
...Scott Wilkinson, of Woodford Green, has a licence for 15 gila monster lizards and five poisonous snakes. The 36-year-old said...two eastern rattlesnakes, one copperhead viper and 15 gila monster lizards. Southwark: two clouded leopards, two lemurs...
4.
Real Horrors on Cable
Newspaper article by Gary Arnold; The Washington Times, October 23, 1999
...The Amazing Colossal Man," 12:40 a.m.; "War of the Colossal Beast," 2 a.m.; "Earth vs. the Spider," 3:20 a.m.; "Giant Gila Monster," 4:40 a.m. Oct. 30-31: "Reptilicus," 6 a.m.; "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms," 7:30 a.m.; "The Giant Behemoth," 9...
5.
The Net; We're off to See the Lizard
Newspaper article; Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland), June 19, 1998
...is the real thing. In your own home, if its big enough. Heloderma suspectum is the real thing, better known as the Gila Monster, a desert- dwelling lizard which is highly poisonous, with a fierce bite. None of which deters Dr Seward from selling...
More newspaper Results: 1-10 11-11 >>

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encyclopedia articles on: Gila Monster  - 5 results

 
 
1.
Gila Monster
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
GILA MONSTER he l , venomous lizard, Heloderma suspectum, found in the deserts...mouth, venom does not always enter the wound when a victim is bitten. The gila monster must fix its teeth deeply in a certain position to give a fatal bite...
2.
Beaded Lizard
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
BEADED LIZARD see gila monster . ____________________ Copyright 2009 Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
3.
Iguana
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...United States and NW Mexico. The 16-in. long (40-cm), greenish chuckwalla is the largest U.S. lizard except for the gila monster and is known for its ability to inflate itself, making it difficult to extract from crevices. The gray-brown desert...
4.
Desert
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...and deer; reptiles, e.g., the Arizona coral snake, species of rattlesnakes, the desert tortoise, and the horned toad, gila monster, and many other lizards; a number of birds, e.g., the cactus wren, the road runner, species of owls, sparrows, and hawks...
5.
Lizard
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...iguana of the Galapagos Islands. Gliding forms, the flying dragons , are found in the forests of SE Asia. The gila monster and the related beaded lizard of the North American deserts are the only known poisonous lizards; some other lizards...


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