# Mexican beaded lizard (*Heloderma horridum*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-beaded-lizard  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. Checklists record it in Mexico, and the IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.06 kg – 2.73 kg |
| Length | 36.4 cm |
| Lifespan | 25.1 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 44 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 170 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 – 22 |
| Age at maturity | 7 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.5 – 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Helodermatidae
- genus: Heloderma
- species: *Heloderma horridum* (Wiegmann, 1829)

Synonyms: *Heloderma hernandesii*, *Heloderma horridum horridum*, *Trachyderma horridum*

## Countries on record

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.

Mexico

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), 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](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mexican-beaded-lizard