A Gila monster that bit its owner in Lakewood on Feb. 12, leading to the man's death, was returned to Colorado this week and sent to a lab in Greeley on Thursday for testing on the reptile's venom.

But that's science for you. Eng set about studying the Gila monster's venom and discovered a compound that had never been identified, one he dubbed exendin-4.

FILE – A Gila monster is displayed at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Dec. 14, 2018. A 34-year-old Colorado man has died on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, after being bitten by his pet gila monster in ...

For their size, up to 22 inches (56 centimeters), Gila monsters travel widely, ranging over an area as big as 100 or more U.S. football fields in pursuit of prey including bird eggs in nests high ...

For their size, up to 22 inches (56 centimeters), Gila monsters travel widely, ranging over an area as big as 100 or more U.S. football fields in pursuit of prey including bird eggs in nests high ...

A Colorado man who died after getting bitten by a Gila monster was hardly alone in having the gnarly looking lizard for a pet. They’re legal to own in most states, easily found through breeders ...