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Moloch horridus
Thorny Devil, Western Australia An intimidating array of spikes cover the entire upper side of the body; these thorny scales are a defense mechanism against predators. Camouflage and deception may also be used to evade predation. It has an unusual gait, involving freezing and rocking, as it slowly moves in search of its preferred diet.
It inhabits arid scrub and desert over most of central Australia. In particular, it inhabits spinifex (triodia) sandplain and sandridge desert within the interior and mallee belt. Its distribution largely coincides more with the distribution of sandy and sandy loam soils than with a particular climate in western Australia.
Spotted on May 10, 2011
Submitted on Oct 28, 2011
15 Comments
great spotting
Very nice perspective
Nice timing...
wow, , , ,
very nice perspective!
Yes he does!:-)
Cool! Does he make a good pet? LOL
fantastic pic pal welcome to project noah
great pic - fantastic creature. One of Australia's many treasures. It's not just kangaroos and koalas down there! :)
and awesome shot...:)
Niiiice little fella!
Excellent, thanks very much! And welcome to Project Noah, I hope we get to see a lot more of your photos :)
Hi Aurel! welcome to noah! have fun!
Hi Laura,
This should be fixed now. :-)
What a nice website, I am so happy to join it.
Hi Aurel, I think you accidentally uploaded that spider picture along with the thorny devil (it's a huge spider though, hope you give it its own spotting!). This is a lovely photo of a very interesting animal :) Very neat!