This lifeform is found in the SW USA (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona).

Banded gila monster (Heloderma cinctum to Heloderma suspectum subspecies cinctum) is found from the southern tip of Nevada into western Arizona. This heavy bodied lizard is usually less than one foot long.

Gila Monsters or Beaded Lizards (Family Helodermatidae) are a very unique set of two (or three) species. They have unusual pointed scales that look like beads. They also are the only poisonous lizards known. Several accounts indicate that these lizards will bite and not release their jaws which permits the poison to enter their victim.

Lizards and Snakes (Squamata Order) share many common characteristics and consequently they are grouped in a single order. There are greater differences between some groups of lizards than there are between other groups of lizards and snakes. The same is true of snakes. Lizards and snakes share a common skull shape.

Reptiles (Class Reptilia) are an ancient group of scaled  chordates. These scales may be permanently joined, as in the  turtles, or flexible, as in the snakes. Reptiles are land-based. Their eggs are laid on land and the young are air breathing.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.