Thorny devil
Moloch horridus
Family Agamidae
About
The thorny devil is a small, spine-covered lizard of Australia's arid interior, its entire body armoured in conical thorns for defence. Its ridged scales channel dew and rain straight to its mouth, letting it drink from damp sand alone.
How to spot it
Unmistakable: a small lizard (up to 21cm) entirely covered in hard conical spines, in mottled desert browns and tans that darken or pale with temperature and mood. It has a bizarre false 'head' — a spiny knob on the back of its neck — which it presents to predators while hiding its real head. Moves with a slow, jerky rock-and-freeze gait across sandy desert country, mostly on warm days when the ants it feeds on are active.
Found in
- Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
- Watarrka National Park
- Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park
- Kalbarri National Park
Source: Wikipedia
Photo: Bäras (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons