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Often referred to as
a Moloch (another name for Devil) the Thorny Devil is a slow moving
harmless reptile
 Description
Easily identified by its prominent spines which are
soft and its colouring Which ranges from yellow to reddish-brown to
black depending upon which type of soil it is crossing to serve as
camouflage They can grow to a total length of 20 cm and the larger
female can weigh up to 90 gms
Feeding
It feeds exclusively on ants (favourite being small
black ants), eating huge numbers In a single meal it is estimated a
Thorny Devil can eat between 600 and 3,000 ants! The amazing fact is
that they eat them one at a time with its flicking sticky tongue, at a
rate of up to 45 a minute.
 Resting
At night time Thorny Devils partly digs into the soil
to keep warmer During really hot days, thorny devils dig themselves a
shallow underground burrow sometimes under small shrubs to provide
extra protection from the hot
Habitat
& Location
 Thorny
devils are found throughout out Australia's interior desert, mostly on
sandy soils Plant life in these area varies from Spinafex to
"Mallee" scrubland.
Water
consumption
Water which lands on the Thorny Devils back whether it
be overnight condensation or rain, runs along thousands of tiny
grooves on the animal to the corner of its mouth where it is drank It
moves along these groves by a capillary action. set in motion by
gulping
Defense
and Camouflage
The thorny devil is not an aggressive reptile. It
prefers defense and has various ways of doing this:-
1) The ability to change colour to match the soil beneath it
2) They take refuge in small shrubs upon the approach of a potential
predator
3) When frightened, it tucks its head between its front legs which
shows a false head or knob on its neck in the place where its normal
head would be
4) If a predator attempts to flip it over it resists by applying
counter pressure to the ground on the other side with its spines and
its curved tail
5) Jerky movement may imitate a leaf, and it often "freezes"
in mid stride
6) The ability to puff themselves up to make them appear larger
Their main predators are man (0riginally just Aborigines) and bustards
(bird)
Breeding
Mating and laying of eggs occurs between September and
January with between 3 to 10 eggs being laid underground. 3 to 4
months later the eggs hatch. Thorny Devils reach maturity after 3
years and are believed to have a lifespan of up to 20 years
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