Guatemala Beaded Lizard

Open encyclopedia reference

The Guatemalan beaded lizard (Heloderma charlesbogerti), also called commonly the Motagua Valley beaded lizard, is a highly endangered species of beaded lizard, a venomous lizard in the family Helodermatidae. The species is endemic to the dry forests of the Motagua Valley in southeastern Guatemala, an ecoregion known as the Motagua Valley thornscrub. It is the only allopatric beaded lizard species, separated from the nearest population (H. alvarezi) by 250 km (160 mi) of unsuitable habitat. The Guatemalan beaded lizard is the rarest and most endangered species of beaded lizard, and fewer than 200 individuals of this animal are believed to exist in the wild, making it one of the most endangered lizards in the world. In 2007, it was transferred from Appendix II to Appendix I of CITES due to its critical conservation status.

Wikipedia contributors, Heloderma charlesbogerti; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:30:39.294019+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Heloderma charlesbogerti Campbell & Vannini, 1988

Name authority

Campbell & Vannini, 1988

Common name

Guatemala Beaded Lizard

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Helodermatidae

Genus

Heloderma

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderAutarchoglossa
11. familyHelodermatidae
12. genusHeloderma
13. speciesHeloderma charlesbogerti Campbell & Vannini, 1988

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Heloderma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 4 records assigned to Helodermatidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Heloderma&species=charlesbogerti Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:88BZB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.