Thorny Devils is widely distributed in sand deserts and semi-deserts of the central and western regions of Australia.
Active in the daytime. Moving Thorny Devil slowly, holding his body on his elongated legs and almost not touching the tail of the earth. In the soft soil of the lizard, small holes are digged, but they can also sink entirely into the sand to a shallow depth, reminding them of American toad-shaped lizards and Asian roundheads. Frightened Thorny Devil bends his head down, exposing a nest on the back of the head, with large spines pointing forward. This growth plays the role of a “false head”, distracting the predator from the real head.
It feeds exclusively on foraging ants, which it catches with the help of a sticky tongue. While producing food, Thorny Devil settles near the ant track and captures the emerging insects with the tongue, without touching those who carry a large burden. At the same time, he tries not to exhale down, so that the smell of formic acid does not cause alarm. It was estimated that in one day a lizard can eat up to several thousand ants.
