Hi Steemit family!

There are a surprising number of animals whose names are somewhat eccentric like the animal I present to you today, the thorny devil who, surely acquired his name due to the pile of thorns found in his body, despite having a terrifying name, this small reptile is harmless to humans. Come with me to learn a little about our thorny friend.

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His scientific name is Moloch horridus, is endemic to Australia that as you can see is unique in its kind, and its most striking feature is the thorns that adorn his skin.

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Its skin is a color very similar to the earth and is closely linked to the habitat where it develops, this incredible lizard lives in extreme areas, deserts very arid, as the west and north of Australia, its features are special to camouflage without being noticed due to the amount of vegetation with thorns and its color very similar to the earth or sand.

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Unlike other lizards whose diet is carnivorous, the spiny devil has a preference for ants, and is not limited to a few ants, this friend is a voracious predator, needs large amounts of food to supplement his inexhaustible appetite, his hunting tactic is to stay near a colony of ants where he spends a lot of time immobile, this way the ants confuse the thorny devil with the ground and so the ants enter alone inside his mouth, in one day they can eat up to 1000 ants, they are really gluttons.

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Their reproduction is by means of eggs, and the date of mating is between July and August, the males usually are quite aggressive with other competitors, this due to a substance that produces the female, while the females only choose who they perceive as a good specimen to procreate. The rest of the time both males and females are hunting alone.

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The female has the ability to retain the sperm to ovulate when conditions are favorable for survival of the species, when this happens can dig up to 30 cm of soil to make the nest where deposited about 4 or 5 that will be patiently incubated up to a maximum of 17 weeks where the hatchlings come out of the shell.

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Finalizing the winter and when it is the season of autumn the thorny devils are highly active, whereas in the extreme seasons as they are summer and winter these thorny friends tend to be a little sedentary in order to protect themselves of the inclement climatic conditions that lash their habitat.

https://www.zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b01b8d0e94b9d970c-800wisource

In some cases it has been proven that these reptiles can consume up to 5000 ants in a day, you can change the color of your skin depending on the weather if this cool has the skin from gray to brown and when it is high the temperature becomes yellow.

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Another feature that has left me amazed is its ability to collect water from morning dew or rain and through its system of thorns create a perfect channel that ends in your mouth.

Their camouflage system is so good, that animals and humans can confuse it with a dry branch, it is rare to see them move because they spend a lot of time calmly eating ants.

https://www.zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b01b7c75fdc60970b-800wisource

I will not fail to pay my respects to Australia a continent that has perhaps the most strange reptiles in the entire world. They look like they were taken from a science fiction movie, or as if part of the dinosaurs didn't stop living and adapted to the new climatic changes.