Mexican beaded lizard
Heloderma horridum (Wiegmann, 1829)
The mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum), also called the beaded lizard, is a reptile in the lizard subgroup and belongs to the family Helodermatidae in the order Squamata. It falls in the medium size class, with a representative adult body mass of 1.1 kg and a body length of 36.6 cm.
Quick facts about the mexican beaded lizard
Checklists record it in Mexico, and the IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 1.06 kg – 2.73 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- 36.4 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 25.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 44 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 170 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2 – 22src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 7 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.5 – 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the mexican beaded lizard?
Photos of the mexican beaded lizard
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the mexican beaded lizard live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The mexican beaded lizard is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ReptileDB (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the mexican beaded lizard?
The Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum) or beaded lizard is a species of venomous lizard in the family Helodermatidae, one of the two species of venomous beaded lizards found principally in Mexico and southern Guatemala. It and the other members of the same genus, including 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 debate among scientists. 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.
From the Wikipedia article “Mexican beaded lizard” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mexican_beaded_lizard&oldid=1354642801), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the mexican beaded lizard endangered?
The mexican beaded lizard is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the mexican beaded lizard classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyHelodermatidae
- genusHeloderma
- SpeciesHeloderma horridum (Wiegmann, 1829)
Synonyms Heloderma hernandesii, Heloderma horridum horridum, Trachyderma horridum
Other names and names in other languages (27)
- Beaded lizardEnglish
- Beaded lizardEnglish
- سحلية مكسيكية مطرزةArabic
- korovec mexickýCzech
- Vestmexicansk VorteøgleDanish
- Skorpion-KrustenechseGerman
- Skorpions-KrustenechseGerman
- EscorpiónSpanish
- Lagarto de chaquiraSpanish
- Lagarto de chaquira del PacíficoSpanish
- Lagarto de CuentasSpanish
- Lagarto enchaquiradoSpanish
- Lézard perléFrench
- Héloderme granuleuxFrench
- Héloderme horribleFrench
- לטאת הפניניםHebrew
- メキシコドクトカゲJapanese
- VorteøgleNorwegian Bokmål
- Heloderma meksykańskaPolish
- Lagarto-de-contasPortuguese
- ЭскорпионRussian
- Мексиканский ядозубRussian
- pisani bradavičarSlovenian
- กิ้งก่าลูกปัดThai
- Meksika boncuklu keleriTurkish
- Отрутозуб мексиканськийUkrainian
- 墨西哥毒蜥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the mexican beaded lizard
Other species in the same genus Heloderma.
Gila monster
Heloderma suspectum
Guatemala beaded lizard
Heloderma charlesbogerti
Rio Fuerte beaded lizard
Heloderma exasperatum
Black beaded lizard
Heloderma alvarezi
CompareMexican beaded lizard vs Gila monsterMexican beaded lizard vs Guatemala beaded lizardMexican beaded lizard vs Rio Fuerte beaded lizardMexican beaded lizard vs Black beaded lizard
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the mexican beaded lizard?
The mexican beaded lizard is a reptile in the lizard subgroup, belonging to the family Helodermatidae and the genus Heloderma.
How heavy is the mexican beaded lizard?
Its representative adult body mass is 1.1 kg, with reported values from 1.055 to 1.244 kg.
How big is the mexican beaded lizard?
Its representative body length is 36.6 cm, and it falls in the medium size class by adult body mass.
How long does the mexican beaded lizard live?
Its representative lifespan is 25 years, with values up to 34.4 years reported.
How many eggs does the mexican beaded lizard lay?
It lays a representative 7.9 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 170 days.
Which countries is the mexican beaded lizard recorded in?
Checklists record the mexican beaded lizard in Mexico.
Is the mexican beaded lizard endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
Who named the mexican beaded lizard?
Its scientific name, Heloderma horridum, has the authority (Wiegmann, 1829).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-beaded-lizard
“Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-beaded-lizard.
@misc{mexican_beaded_lizard_2026,
title = {Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-beaded-lizard},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}