1.What is this? This surface of some strange planet?
2.Some type of weird science fiction dinosaur?
3.Nope. This is Australia's thorny devil lizard.
4.Not only is it thorny and devilish, it also has the best Latin name out there: Moloch horridus.
5.It has the most BADDASS walk on the planet.
6.IT WALKS LIKE A MO-FO SHAKING IN THE WIND!!!
7.While it may look like it's drunk, the thorny devil's weird rocking walk is designed to make it blend in.
8.By swaying back and forwards between steps, the lizard merges with its surroundings. Right?!
Look again at #7. That "branch" is actually a thorny devil. Cunning huh?
9.The thorny devil's body is protected by intimidating spikes designed to defend it from land based predators such as goannas, snakes and dingoes.
10.Despite appearances, the lizard is actually pretty harmless, providing you don't try and eat it.
11.Hungry?
12.Thorny devils are common in Australia's deserts: those defensive measures are a very effective deterrent.
13.The thorny dragon has a weird lump on its head.
14.That lump is actually a decoy, an expendable bit of fat they will sacrifice by dropping their real head between their legs if they feel threatened.
15.Thorny devils drink by moving water around their skin via some kind of voodoo magic.
16.By working their jaws, they work water into their mouths via grooves on their body via capillary action.
17.How does such a spiky creature reproduce? With great care! The male lizards have hemipenes (a pair or male sexual organs), one on either side at the base of their tail.
18.The babies are ridiculously cute!
19.Thorny devils carry their tail like a flagpole to distract aerial predators – from above, the raised tail confuses birds.
20.All the lizard eats are tiny little black ants, an estimated 3000 a day!
21.Yummy!
22.The thorny devil is completely unique to Australia, there is nothing else like it anywhere.
23.We are so proud of our little lizard it features on stamps.
