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Thorny Devil

Moloch horridus

Description:

The thorny devil grows up to 20 cm (8.0 inches) in length, and it can live up to 20 years. Most of these lizards are coloured in camouflaging shades of desert browns and tans. These colours change from pale colours during warm weather and to darker colours during cold weather. These animals are covered entirely with conical spines that are mostly uncalcified.

Habitat:

The thorny devil usually lives in the arid scrubland and desert that covers most of central Australia. For example, the thorny devil inhabits the spinifex (triodia) sandplain and sandridge desert in the deep interior and the mallee belt. The habitation of the thorny devil coincides mostly with the regions of sandy loam soils than with a particular climate in Western Australia.

Notes:

Although the explanations, I spotted him in Western Australia, in a quite deserted area. We removed him from the road where he tried to cross and put him back to the bush bearby ;)

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7 Comments

MeganM
MeganM 10 years ago

very interesting creature!

Anoop.Asranna
Anoop.Asranna 10 years ago

That is a lot of spikes!

Atul
Atul 10 years ago

Lovely !

Kory
Kory 11 years ago

Wow he's soooooo cool looking.

MelanieAustralia
MelanieAustralia 11 years ago

Thank you Noel :)

Jolly Ibañez
Jolly Ibañez 11 years ago

very nice armored creature

Noel Buensuceso
Noel Buensuceso 11 years ago

Great spot!

MelanieAustralia
Spotted by
MelanieAustralia

Western Australia, Australia

Spotted on Feb 13, 2010
Submitted on Sep 24, 2012

Spotted for Mission

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