Why is this animal unusual?
Its skin is covered in microscopic grooves. Water from dew, rain or even damp sand is pulled along them by capillary action, all the way to the corners of its mouth. It never has to bend down to drink.
Why does it look like that?
Cone-shaped spikes from nose to tail, in desert colours of yellow, red and brown that change with the temperature.
Strangest biological feature
The false head. It’s a spiny lump on the back of its neck. When threatened, the lizard tucks its real head between its legs and offers the fake one instead.
Why is it strange?
It can eat thousands of ants in a single sitting, picking them up one at a time with its sticky tongue.
Interesting behavioral facts
It walks with a strange, slow, rocking motion – freezing mid-step with one leg in the air – possibly to look like a leaf blowing in the wind.
Records held
Its scientific name comes from Moloch, a monstrous god in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. It’s completely harmless.
