Gila monsters are shrouded in mystery. The venomous, desert-dwelling lizards spend most of their lives underground and out of sight, only coming up to the surface occasionally to hunt for food, bask in the sun or find a mate.

These hefty reptiles that look like they’re covered with Halloween-colored beadwork are so introverted that scientists aren’t even certain how many of them exist across their range, which spans the American Southwest and northwestern Mexico. What is known is that their population is decreasing—the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as a “near-threatened” species due to challenges like human development and invasive species.

But for Dale DeNardo, a professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University who has been studying Gila m

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