📷 Bäras (talk · contribs) · CC BY-SA 3.0
📷 KeresH
📷 Stu's Images
IUCN: Least Concern
Thorny Devil
Moloch horridus
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassReptilia›OrderSquamata›FamilyAgamidae›GenusMoloch
About
The thorny devil wears a suit of conical scales and a false ‘second head’ — a knobbed hump on its neck it presents to attackers before swallowing itself whole into a shrub. Its finest trick is drinking: grooves between the scales wick dew and rain across the body to the corners of the mouth by capillary action, so the lizard can sip moisture simply by standing on damp sand. Slow-moving and utterly harmless, it lives almost entirely on ants, consuming them one sticky tongue-flick at a time.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Arid deserts and sand-country scrub of central Australia
🍃Diet Ants, especially small species, eaten in the thousands per day
📏Size & Weight 8–13 cm long (snout to tail tip about 20 cm)
•Weight 25–50 g
⏳Lifespan Estimated 15–20 years
🗺Range Australian interior, from Western Australia to Queensland
ReptileLizard
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Arid deserts and sand-country scrub of central Australia
🍃Diet Ants, especially small species, eaten in the thousands per day
📏Size & Weight 8–13 cm long (snout to tail tip about 20 cm)
•Weight 25–50 g
⏳Lifespan Estimated 15–20 years
🗺Range Australian interior, from Western Australia to Queensland
Photo Credits
#1Bäras (talk · contribs) · CC BY-SA 3.0
#2KeresH · CC BY-SA 4.0
#3Stu's Images · CC BY-SA 4.0
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