The things you come across on holiday

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While we were travelling in the Northern Territory of Australia recently, we were waved down by another hire campervan. The young French couple had spotted a mountain devil on the road and wanted to share their find with someone. We were heading to Adelaide towards the end of our trip but I had been hoping we'd come across one of these little creatures. Moloch horridus is also known as the thorny dragon or thorny devil. They grow to about 20cm (7.9 inches) in length and live 15 to 20 years. Their mottled colouring changes according to the terrain on which they find themselves but mostly they're the browns and tans of the desert. In summer they become a bit paler. The entire upper surface of the body is covered in conical spines. They also have a spine on the back of the neck which looks like a head when they dip their head between their front legs. This is a form of protection against predators such as goannas and birds of prey. The mountain devil's mouth is adapted to feed on ants. The mouth parts are so specialised that they battle to drink from puddles although they can get moisture in this way. In addition, when they need water, it seems they bury themselves in wet sand and moisture is absorbed into the body. The capillary channels on the skin push moisture towards the mouth. By shovelling sand over themselves or by digging into the sand, gravity helps force moisture into the capillary channels. It is believed this method of absorbing liquid is only used in times of drought. The one we saw displayed the typical unusual gait of the species. It would freeze for a while or rock slowly back and forth before moving away. During the war years when American servicemen were stationed in Western Australia, some were sold the thorny fruits of the double gee after having been told they were mountain devil eggs.