No. 0618 / 1 402

Gila monster

Heloderma suspectum

名前について： "Gila" comes from the Gila River Basin in Arizona and New Mexico, where the lizard was once common. "Heloderma" is Greek for "studded skin".1

お医者さんが必要命にかかわることはまれだけど、かまれたらお医者さんへ。

毒トカゲ

かむ食べもの：肉

人への危険: 深刻かまれたらお医者さんへ。死ぬことはとてもまれだよ。

The Gila monster is a heavy, slow-moving lizard with a venomous bite. It lives in the south-western United States and the Mexican state of Sonora. It is the only venomous lizard native to the United States, but it rarely poses a real threat to people.1

すんでいる場所

South-western United States and Sonora, Mexico, including Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico1

北アメリカ

ホーム

It lives in scrubland, succulent desert and oak woodland, and shelters in burrows, thickets and under rocks. It spends about 90% of its life underground. It can be seen in puddles after a summer rain.1

長さ

26 cmから56 cm (10.2 inから1.8 ft)1

体重

550 gから800 g (1.2 lbから1.8 lb)1

最高速度

時速約2.4 km（時速1.5マイル）

陸で: ゆっくり歩く人

何を食べるの？

It eats small mammals, small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, insects, eggs and carrion. It finds prey by smell, using its forked, black-blue tongue, and it hunts by day or night.1

Gila monsterの写真 — Gila monster。写真：H. van der Ploeg。 CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist.

見分け方

Adults are yellow to pink on a black background.1
Hatchlings have a simple, uniform pattern that is less colourful, and it changes over their first 6 months.1
It has a heavy body, a stout snout and a massive head.1
Adults can reach 56 cm in total length.1
Males often have larger, more triangular heads than females.1

よくまちがえられるのは： Its closest relatives are beaded lizards, which live in Mexico and Guatemala. In the United States, the Gila monster is the only venomous lizard.1

毒パワー

かむ

かむときに、毒が牙や歯から出るよ。

その毒（かむ・刺す毒）はどうなるの？

The venom is made in glands in the lower jaw and flows along grooves in the lower teeth into the bite. It contains more than a dozen peptides and other substances, which cause pain and swelling. Four potentially lethal toxins have been found, which can cause bleeding inside the organs.1

人にとってどれくらい危険？

人への危険: 深刻かまれたらお医者さんへ。死ぬことはとてもまれだよ。

The venom is usually not fatal to healthy adults. One death has been confirmed since 1930, on 16 February 2024. Earlier deaths involved adults who were drunk or whose bite was treated badly. Bites are painful and can cause shock, but the lizard is sluggish and rarely a real threat.1

こわいとき、どうするの？

Its bright colours may warn predators to keep away, because it can inflict pain.1

かまれたら

Bites are painful and need emergency medical care, because the venom may cause shock. Get medical help as quickly as possible.1
傷口を洗い、その人を落ちつかせて、医療の助けを受けよう。

まず必ず救急番号（112、000、911）に電話しよう。これは一般的な応急手当の案内で、医療のアドバイスではないよ。応急手当の基本

安全に過ごそう

野生の動物には、小さくても、ねているように見えても、死んでいるように見えても、ぜったいにさわったり、つかまえたり、からかったりしないこと。
近づかないで。出会ったら落ちついて、ゆっくりあとずさりして、そのまま行かせてあげよう。
かまれたら：落ちついて、じっとして、救急番号（112、000、911）に電話するか、急いで病院へ行こう。見た目をおぼえておいてね。写真があると役に立つよ。

きみをねらっているわけじゃないよ。毒はエサをとったり身を守ったりするために使うだけで、本当はかくれていたいんだ。安全に過ごすためにもっと知ろう

世界のどこ？

アフリカアジアヨーロッパ北アメリカ南アメリカオーストラリアとオセアニア

どれくらい大きい？

どれくらい長い？

どれくらい重い？

バナナ7本分の重さ

バナナ3本をたてにならべた長さおもちゃのブロック18こを1列にならべた長さ100 mを150秒で走れる（いちばん速い人間は9.6秒）

Gila monsterは、きみとくらべてどれくらい大きい？

ブラウザで計算しているだけ。何も保存されないし、どこにも送られないよ。

どれくらい速い？

リクガメ 時速約0.3 km (0.19 mph)

Gila monster 時速約2.4 km (1.5 mph)

歩いている人 時速約5 km (3.1 mph)

知っておく価値あり

データ

Exendin-4, one of the venom's peptides, led to the development of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.1

Young Gila monsters can swallow up to half of their body weight in a single meal.1

It can store fat in its tail and survive a whole season on three to four large meals in spring.1

Its venom is thought to have evolved mainly for defence, because its prey is mostly eggs, small animals and other helpless prey.1

It can climb trees, cacti and fairly straight, rough-surfaced walls.1

Its teeth are replaced throughout its life, and broken teeth are replaced by the teeth behind them.1

うそ・ほんとう

うそ： Its bite is always fatal, and its breath is poisonous.

ほんとう： The venom is usually not fatal to healthy adult humans. One death has been confirmed since 1930.1

毒のエキスパート向け

学名: Heloderma suspectum
グループ: 毒トカゲ
家族: Helodermatidae2
ならびかえ: Squamata
大陸: 北アメリカ
赤ちゃん: Females lay eggs after a shed lasting about 2 weeks. Eggs and young are more vulnerable to predators than adults.1
人への危険: 3 / 5: 深刻3