Drinking through its feet
Tiny grooves between its scales draw water up from damp sand or dew, all the way to its mouth.
The outback
Thorny devil
Moloch horridus
A small, slow lizard covered all over in sharp spines, patterned in gold, brown and rust.
- Size
- About 15 to 20cm long
- Look for it
- August to December, then January to April
- Where
- Sandy deserts of central and western Australia
Walks after you with a jerky, rocking step. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Thorny devil
Good to know
Six things about the thorny devil
A false head
A spiny lump on its neck looks like a second head. It tucks its real head down and offers that.
Only ants
It eats nothing but small black ants, licking up a thousand or more in one meal.
A rocking walk
It walks with a slow back-and-forth rock, which may make it look like a leaf in the wind.
Changing colour
It is paler in the heat of the day and turns darker when it is cold.
Not a devil at all
For all its spikes and its name, it is slow, gentle and completely harmless.
The real thing
Photos of the thorny devil
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look along sandy tracks in the morning, near ant trails. It freezes when it sees you, so watch for a spiky stone.
How to help
Thorny devils warm up on roads and are easily run over. If you visit the outback, watch the track ahead.
Keep going