The thorny devil is named after a sacrifice god. The scientific name is Moloch Horridus. This name comes from John Milton's poem 'Paradise Lost. In the poem there is a Caananite god called Moloch who is a horrible king. The second part of the name Horridus comes from the Latin word horridus that means rough or bristly.
The thorny devil has spikes all over it. The spikes are about the same size as spikes on a rose. This makes it hard to swallow by predators.
The walk of the thorny devil is quite interesting. They walk slowly and stop frequently and then rock back and forth. This shaky movement means they are confusing to predators and also help them stay concealed.
The thorny devil is an expert ant eater. It can eat thousands of ants a day. They lie and wait hear an ant trail and then use their sticky tongue to capture the ants. They have special teeth that can grind the hard bodies of the ant.
If a predator comes along the thorny devil can puff itself up so that they are hard to sallow.
The thorny devil doesn't like extreme temperatures. They are inactive in hottest months of summer and in the coldest months of winter they burrow underground.
