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{{Short description|Species of lizard}}
{{Taxobox
{{pp-semi-indef}}
| name = Thorny Devil
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
| status = secure
{{Use Australian English|date = September 2011}}
| image = Moloch cc03.jpg
{{speciesbox
| regnum = ]ia
| name = Thorny devil
| phylum = ]
| image = Thornydevil.jpg
| classis = ]
| ordo = ] | status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| subordo = ]
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Doughty, P. |author2=Melville, J. |author3=Craig, M. |author4=Sanderson, C. |date=2017 |title=''Moloch horridus'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T83492011A83492039 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T83492011A83492039.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| familia = ]
| display_parents = 2
| subfamilia = ]
| genus = '''''Moloch''''' | genus = Moloch
| parent_authority = ], 1841
| species = '''''M. horridus'''''
| binomial = ''Moloch horridus'' | species = horridus
| binomial_authority = ], 1841 | authority = ], 1841
| synonyms = ''Acanthosaura gibbosus''
| range_map = Thorny Devil Area.png
| range_map = Moloch_horridus_distribution_map.png
| range_map_caption = Distribution of ''Moloch horridus''
}} }}


The '''Thorny Devil''' (''Moloch horridus'') is an Australian lizard. It is also known as the '''Thorny Dragon''', '''Thorny Lizard''', or the '''Moloch''' and is the sole ] of genus '''''Moloch'''''. The '''thorny devil''' ('''''Moloch horridus'''''), also known ] as the '''mountain devil''', '''thorny lizard''', '''thorny dragon''', and '''moloch''', is a ] of ] in the ] ]. The species is ] to ]. It is the ] in the ] '''''Moloch'''''. It grows up to {{convert|21|cm|in|abbr=on}} in total length (including tail), with females generally larger than males.


==Taxonomy==
It grows up to 20&nbsp;cm (8 in) in length, coloured in camouflaging shades of desert browns and tans; these change from pale colours when warm to darker colours when cold. The species is entirely covered with conical spines that are mostly uncalcified. It also features a spiny "false-head" on the back of the neck, the animal presents this to a potential predator by dipping its real head. Females are larger than males. The Thorny Devil's body is ridged in structure, and helps the animal collect water which is channelled to the mouth.<ref name="Browne-Cooper">{{cite book |last=Browne-Cooper |first= Robert|coauthors= Brian Bush, Brad Maryan, David Robinson |title= Reptiles and Frogs in the Bush: Southwestern Australia|year= 2007|month= |publisher= ] Press|isbn= 9778 1 920694 74 6 |pages= pp. 46, 65, 158|chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= }}</ref>
The thorny devil was first ] by the biologist ] in 1841. While it is the only species contained in the genus ''Moloch'', many taxonomists suspect another species might remain to be found in the wild.<ref name="Browne-Cooper"/> The thorny devil is only distantly related to the ] similar ]n ]s of the genus ''Phrynosoma''. This similarity is usually thought of as an example of ].

The names given to this lizard reflect its appearance: the two large horned scales on its head complete the illusion of a dragon or devil. The name ] was used for a deity of the ], usually depicted as a hideous beast.<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). "''Moloch horridus''" in ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 182. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}.</ref> The thorny devil also has other nicknames people have given it such as the "devil lizard", "horned lizard", and the "thorny toad".<ref>. factzoo.com</ref>


==Description== ==Description==
The thorny devil grows up to {{convert|21|cm|in|abbr=on}} in total length (including tail),<ref>] (1885). "''Moloch horridus''" in ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). 2nd Ed. Vol. I. ... Agamidæ.''. Taylor and Francis. pp. 411–412.</ref> and can live for 15 to 20 years. The females are larger than the males. Most specimens are coloured in camouflaging shades of desert browns and tans. These colours change from pale colours during warm weather to darker colours during cold weather. The thorny devil is covered entirely with conical spines that are mostly uncalcified.
An intimidating array of spikes cover the entire upper side of the body, these thorny scales are a defence against predators. Camouflage and deception may also be used to evade predation. It has an unusual gait, involving freezing and rocking, as it slowly moves in search of its preferred diet.<ref name="Browne-Cooper"/>


]]]
<gallery>
An intimidating array of spikes covers the entire upper side of the body of the thorny devil. These thorny scales also help to defend it from ]s. ] and deception may also be used to evade predation. This lizard's unusual gait involves freezing and rocking as it moves about slowly in search of food, water, and mates.<ref name="Browne-Cooper"/>
Image:Thorny_devil.JPG|Thorny devil
Image:Thorny_devil_pale.jpg|Thorny devil, Western Australia
Image:Thorny Devil.jpg|The devil is gentle when handled
</gallery>


The thorny devil also features a spiny "false head" on the back of its neck, and the lizard presents this to potential predators by dipping its real head. The "false head" is made of soft tissue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=Christopher |last2=Mead |first2=Jim |last3=Swift |first3=Sandra |title=Cranial osteology of ''Moloch horridus'' (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae) |journal=Records of the Western Australian Museum |date=2009 |volume=25 |issue=Part 2 |pages=201–237 |doi=10.18195/issn.0312-3162.25(2).2009.201-237 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming==
The names of this dragon are given for its appearance, two large horned scales on the head complete the allusion to a ].
The species was described by ] in 1841. While the species is the only one contained by the genus ''Moloch'', taxonomists believe that another species may yet be described.<ref name="Browne-Cooper"/>
The thorny devil is only distantly related to the morphologically similar North American ]s of the genus ''Phrynosoma'', and is more an example of ].


The thorny devil's scales are ridged, enabling the animal to collect water by simply touching it with any part of the body, usually the limbs; ] transports the water to the mouth through channels in its skin.<ref name="Browne-Cooper">{{cite book|author1=Browne-Cooper, Robert|author2=Bush, Brian|author3=Maryan, Brad|author4=Robinson, David|title=Reptiles and Frogs in the Bush: Southwestern Australia|year=2007|publisher=] Press|isbn= 978-1-920694-74-6|pages=46, 65, 158}}</ref> The thorny devil is also equipped to harvest moisture in the dry desert following nighttime's extremely low temperatures and the subsequent condensation of ]. The process involves moisture contact, their hydrophilic skin surface structures with capillaries, and an internal transport mechanism.<ref name="Comanns3">{{cite journal |last1=Comanns |first1=Philipp |last2=Esser |first2=Falk J. |last3=Kappel |first3=Peter H. |last4=Baumgartner |first4=Werner |last5=Shaw |first5=Jeremy |last6=Withers |first6=Philip C. |title=Adsorption and movement of water by skin of the Australian thorny devil (Agamidae: Moloch horridus) |journal=Royal Society Open Science |date=September 2017 |volume=4 |issue=9 |page=170591 |doi=10.1098/rsos.170591 |pmid=28989762 |pmc=5627102 |bibcode=2017RSOS....470591C }}</ref>
==Habitat==
*The lizard rubs its body against the moist substrate and shovels damp sand onto its back, the outer epidermis layer equipped to draw in cutaneous moisture.
*The ] epidermis is hydrophilic with hexagonal microstructures on the scale surfaces. When trace amounts of water contact its skin (pre-wetting) these microstructures fill with water, the skin surface becoming ]. This allows moisture to spread across wider surface areas, yielding faster uptake, as water is collected via capillary action in small channels located between its scales.
*Captured water is transported passively via capillary action in semi-tubular channels located beneath the partially overlapping scales, in an asymmetric and interconnected system that extends over the lizard's entire body surface. The channels terminate at the mouth where active ingestion (drinking) is observable by jaw movements when moisture is plentiful, e.g. water puddles.

The same hydrophilic moisture-harvesting physiology is characteristic in the ] (''Phrynosoma cornutum''), roundtail horned lizard ('']''), desert horned lizard (''Phrynosoma platyrhinos''), Arabian toad-headed agama ('']''), sunwatcher toadhead agama ('']''), '']'', yellow-spotted agama ('']''), ''Trapelus pallidus'' and desert agama ('']'').<ref name="Comanns2b">{{cite journal |last1=Comanns |first1=Philipp |title=Passive water collection with the integument: mechanisms and their biomimetic potential |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |date=May 2018 |volume=221 |issue=10 |page=Table 1 |doi=10.1242/jeb.153130|pmid=29789349 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018JExpB.221B3130C }}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
]'s ''The Royal Natural History'']] ]'s ''The Royal Natural History'']]
]
It inhabits arid scrub and desert over most of central ]. In particular, it inhabits ]-sandplain and sandridge desert within the interior and ] belt. Its distribution largely coincides more with the distribution of sandy and sandy loam soils than with a particular climate (Pianka and Pianka 1970).
The thorny devil usually lives in the arid ] and ] that covers most of ], sandplain and sandridge desert in the deep interior and the ].
]


The habitat of the thorny devil coincides more with the regions of sandy ] soils than with a particular climate in ].<ref>{{cite journal|author=], Pianka HD|year=1970|title=The ecology of ''Moloch horridus'' (Lacertilia: Agamidae) in Western Australia|journal=Copeia|volume=1970|issue=1|pages=90–103|doi=10.2307/1441978|jstor=1441978}}</ref>
the thorny devil loves eating king brown snake and goannas


==Ecology== ==Self-defense==
The thorny devil is covered in hard, rather sharp spines that dissuade attacks by predators by making it difficult to swallow. It also has a false head on its back. When it feels threatened by other animals, it lowers its head between its front legs, and then presents its false head. ]s that consume the thorny devil include wild birds and ]s.
A clutch of three to ten ] is laid in September-December (spring-summer) in a nesting burrow about 30&nbsp;cm underground, and hatches after an incubation of three to four months (Pianka 1997).


==Diet==
Predators include ]s and ]s.
The thorny devil mainly subsists on ants, especially '']'' and other species in the '']'', '']'',<ref name="animaldiversity.org">{{Cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Moloch_horridus/|title = Moloch horridus (Thorny Devil, Mountain Devil)| website=] }}</ref> '']'' (especially '']''),<ref name="animaldiversity.org"/> '']'',<ref name="animaldiversity.org"/> '']'', '']'', or '']''<ref name="animaldiversity.org"/> genera.<ref>{{citation |url=http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/moloch.html |title=Australia's Thorny Devil |access-date=2007-10-31 |archive-date=10 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010180520/http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/%7Evaranus/moloch.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Thorny devils often eat thousands of ants in one day.<ref name="Browne-Cooper"/>

The thorny devil collects moisture in the dry desert by the condensation of dew. This dew forms on its skin in the early morning as it begins to warm outside. Then the dew is channeled to its mouth by gravity and ] via the channels between its spines. During rainfalls, capillary action allows the thorny devil to absorb water from all over its body. Capillary action also allows the thorny devil to absorb water from damp sand. Absorption through sand is the thorny devil's main source of water intake.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1242/jeb.151407|title=How thorny devils tap damp sand to slake thirst|year=2016|last1=Knight|first1=Kathryn|s2cid=89521720|journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology|volume=219|issue=21|pages=3309.1–3309|doi-access=free|bibcode=2016JExpB.219Q3309K }}</ref>

==Reproduction==
The female thorny devil lays a clutch of three to ten ]s between September and December. She puts these in a nesting burrow about 30&nbsp;cm underground. The eggs hatch after about three to four months.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Pianka ER|year=1997|title=Australia's thorny devil|journal=Reptiles|volume=5|issue=11|pages=14–23}}</ref>


==Popular reference== ==Popular reference==
The popular appeal of the thorny devil is the basis of an anecdotal petty scam; American servicemen stationed in ] were reputed to have been sold the thorny fruits of a weed species, called Double Gees , as 'thorny devil eggs'. The species has been kept in captivity, and is able to be handled.<ref name="Browne-Cooper"/> The popular appeal of the thorny devil is the basis of an anecdotal petty scam. American servicemen stationed in ] decades ago (such as during ]) were supposedly sold the thorny fruits of a species of weeds, the so-called "double gee" ('']''), but those were called "thorny devil eggs" as a part of the scam.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} Thorny devils have been kept in captivity.<ref name="Browne-Cooper"/>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}

* Bentley, P. J. and F. C. Blumer. 1962. Uptake of water by the lizard, ''Moloch horridus''. ''Nature'' '''194''': 699-700.
==Further reading==
* Pianka, E. R. 1997. Australia's thorny devil. ''Reptiles'' '''5'''(11): 14-23.
*{{cite journal|last1=Clemente|first1=Christofer|last2=Thompson|first2=Graham G.|last3=Withers|first3=Philip C|last4=Lloyd|first4=David|title=Kinematics, maximal metabolic rate, sprint and endurance for a slow-moving lizard, the thorny devil (''Moloch horridus'')|journal=Australian Journal of Zoology|date=2004|volume=52|issue=5|pages=487–503|doi=10.1071/ZO04026}}
* Pianka, E. R. and H. D. Pianka. 1970. The ecology of ''Moloch horridus'' (Lacertilia: Agamidae) in Western Australia. ''Copeia'' 1970: 90-103.
*{{cite journal|last1=Meyers|first1=Jay|title=Prey capture kinematics of ant-eating lizards|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|date=2005|volume=208|issue=Pt 1|pages=115–127|doi=10.1242/jeb.01345|pmid=15601883|id={{ProQuest|13293724}}|doi-access=free|bibcode=2005JExpB.208..113M }}
*
*] (2014). ''Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition''. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. {{ISBN|978-0643100350}}.
*] (1841). "Description of some new Species and four Genera of Reptiles from Western Australia discovered by John Gould, Esq." ''The Annals and Magazine of Natural History'', '''7''': 86–91. (''Moloch'', new genus pp.&nbsp;88–89; ''M. horridus'', new species, p.&nbsp;89).
*Wilson, Steve; Swan, Gerry (2013). ''A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition''. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. {{ISBN|978-1921517280}}.


==External links== ==External links==
{{commons|Moloch horridus|Thorny Devil}} {{Commons category|Moloch horridus}}
* *
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010180520/http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/%7Evaranus/moloch.html |date=10 October 2011 }}
*
*, www.kidcyber.com.au
*

{{Taxonbar|from=Q320665}}


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Latest revision as of 02:38, 20 November 2024

Species of lizard

Thorny devil
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
Subfamily: Amphibolurinae
Genus: Moloch
Gray, 1841
Species: M. horridus
Binomial name
Moloch horridus
Gray, 1841
Distribution of Moloch horridus
Synonyms

Acanthosaura gibbosus

The thorny devil (Moloch horridus), also known commonly as the mountain devil, thorny lizard, thorny dragon, and moloch, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Australia. It is the sole species in the genus Moloch. It grows up to 21 cm (8.3 in) in total length (including tail), with females generally larger than males.

Taxonomy

The thorny devil was first described by the biologist John Edward Gray in 1841. While it is the only species contained in the genus Moloch, many taxonomists suspect another species might remain to be found in the wild. The thorny devil is only distantly related to the morphologically similar North American horned lizards of the genus Phrynosoma. This similarity is usually thought of as an example of convergent evolution.

The names given to this lizard reflect its appearance: the two large horned scales on its head complete the illusion of a dragon or devil. The name Moloch was used for a deity of the ancient Near East, usually depicted as a hideous beast. The thorny devil also has other nicknames people have given it such as the "devil lizard", "horned lizard", and the "thorny toad".

Description

The thorny devil grows up to 21 cm (8.3 in) in total length (including tail), and can live for 15 to 20 years. The females are larger than the males. Most specimens are coloured in camouflaging shades of desert browns and tans. These colours change from pale colours during warm weather to darker colours during cold weather. The thorny devil is covered entirely with conical spines that are mostly uncalcified.

A thorny devil in Western Australia

An intimidating array of spikes covers the entire upper side of the body of the thorny devil. These thorny scales also help to defend it from predators. Camouflage and deception may also be used to evade predation. This lizard's unusual gait involves freezing and rocking as it moves about slowly in search of food, water, and mates.

The thorny devil also features a spiny "false head" on the back of its neck, and the lizard presents this to potential predators by dipping its real head. The "false head" is made of soft tissue.

The thorny devil's scales are ridged, enabling the animal to collect water by simply touching it with any part of the body, usually the limbs; capillary action transports the water to the mouth through channels in its skin. The thorny devil is also equipped to harvest moisture in the dry desert following nighttime's extremely low temperatures and the subsequent condensation of dew. The process involves moisture contact, their hydrophilic skin surface structures with capillaries, and an internal transport mechanism.

  • The lizard rubs its body against the moist substrate and shovels damp sand onto its back, the outer epidermis layer equipped to draw in cutaneous moisture.
  • The keratinous fibered epidermis is hydrophilic with hexagonal microstructures on the scale surfaces. When trace amounts of water contact its skin (pre-wetting) these microstructures fill with water, the skin surface becoming superhydrophilic. This allows moisture to spread across wider surface areas, yielding faster uptake, as water is collected via capillary action in small channels located between its scales.
  • Captured water is transported passively via capillary action in semi-tubular channels located beneath the partially overlapping scales, in an asymmetric and interconnected system that extends over the lizard's entire body surface. The channels terminate at the mouth where active ingestion (drinking) is observable by jaw movements when moisture is plentiful, e.g. water puddles.

The same hydrophilic moisture-harvesting physiology is characteristic in the Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum), roundtail horned lizard (Phrynosoma modestum), desert horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos), Arabian toad-headed agama (Phrynocephalus arabicus), sunwatcher toadhead agama (Phrynocephalus helioscopus), Phrynocephalus horvathi, yellow-spotted agama (Trapelus flavimaculatus), Trapelus pallidus and desert agama (Trapelus mutabilis).

Distribution and habitat

Illustration from Lydekker's The Royal Natural History
Thorny devil underside, Western Australia

The thorny devil usually lives in the arid scrubland and desert that covers most of central Australia, sandplain and sandridge desert in the deep interior and the mallee belt.

The habitat of the thorny devil coincides more with the regions of sandy loam soils than with a particular climate in Western Australia.

Self-defense

The thorny devil is covered in hard, rather sharp spines that dissuade attacks by predators by making it difficult to swallow. It also has a false head on its back. When it feels threatened by other animals, it lowers its head between its front legs, and then presents its false head. Predators that consume the thorny devil include wild birds and goannas.

Diet

The thorny devil mainly subsists on ants, especially Ochetellus flavipes and other species in the Camponotus, Ectatomma, Iridomyrmex (especially Iridomyrmex rufoniger), Monomorium, Ochetellus, Pheidole, or Polyrhachis genera. Thorny devils often eat thousands of ants in one day.

The thorny devil collects moisture in the dry desert by the condensation of dew. This dew forms on its skin in the early morning as it begins to warm outside. Then the dew is channeled to its mouth by gravity and capillary action via the channels between its spines. During rainfalls, capillary action allows the thorny devil to absorb water from all over its body. Capillary action also allows the thorny devil to absorb water from damp sand. Absorption through sand is the thorny devil's main source of water intake.

Reproduction

The female thorny devil lays a clutch of three to ten eggs between September and December. She puts these in a nesting burrow about 30 cm underground. The eggs hatch after about three to four months.

Popular reference

The popular appeal of the thorny devil is the basis of an anecdotal petty scam. American servicemen stationed in Southwest Australia decades ago (such as during World War II) were supposedly sold the thorny fruits of a species of weeds, the so-called "double gee" (Emex australis), but those were called "thorny devil eggs" as a part of the scam. Thorny devils have been kept in captivity.

References

  1. Doughty, P.; Melville, J.; Craig, M.; Sanderson, C. (2017). "Moloch horridus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T83492011A83492039. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T83492011A83492039.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Browne-Cooper, Robert; Bush, Brian; Maryan, Brad; Robinson, David (2007). Reptiles and Frogs in the Bush: Southwestern Australia. University of Western Australia Press. pp. 46, 65, 158. ISBN 978-1-920694-74-6.
  3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). "Moloch horridus" in The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.
  4. Thorny Devil Lizard – Prickly Desert Ant-Eater. factzoo.com
  5. Boulenger GA (1885). "Moloch horridus" in Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). 2nd Ed. Vol. I. ... Agamidæ.. Taylor and Francis. pp. 411–412.
  6. Bell, Christopher; Mead, Jim; Swift, Sandra (2009). "Cranial osteology of Moloch horridus (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae)". Records of the Western Australian Museum. 25 (Part 2): 201–237. doi:10.18195/issn.0312-3162.25(2).2009.201-237.
  7. Comanns, Philipp; Esser, Falk J.; Kappel, Peter H.; Baumgartner, Werner; Shaw, Jeremy; Withers, Philip C. (September 2017). "Adsorption and movement of water by skin of the Australian thorny devil (Agamidae: Moloch horridus)". Royal Society Open Science. 4 (9): 170591. Bibcode:2017RSOS....470591C. doi:10.1098/rsos.170591. PMC 5627102. PMID 28989762.
  8. Comanns, Philipp (May 2018). "Passive water collection with the integument: mechanisms and their biomimetic potential". Journal of Experimental Biology. 221 (10): Table 1. Bibcode:2018JExpB.221B3130C. doi:10.1242/jeb.153130. PMID 29789349.
  9. Pianka ER, Pianka HD (1970). "The ecology of Moloch horridus (Lacertilia: Agamidae) in Western Australia". Copeia. 1970 (1): 90–103. doi:10.2307/1441978. JSTOR 1441978.
  10. ^ "Moloch horridus (Thorny Devil, Mountain Devil)". Animal Diversity Web.
  11. Australia's Thorny Devil, archived from the original on 10 October 2011, retrieved 31 October 2007
  12. Knight, Kathryn (2016). "How thorny devils tap damp sand to slake thirst". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 219 (21): 3309.1–3309. Bibcode:2016JExpB.219Q3309K. doi:10.1242/jeb.151407. S2CID 89521720.
  13. Pianka ER (1997). "Australia's thorny devil". Reptiles. 5 (11): 14–23.

Further reading

  • Clemente, Christofer; Thompson, Graham G.; Withers, Philip C; Lloyd, David (2004). "Kinematics, maximal metabolic rate, sprint and endurance for a slow-moving lizard, the thorny devil (Moloch horridus)". Australian Journal of Zoology. 52 (5): 487–503. doi:10.1071/ZO04026.
  • Meyers, Jay (2005). "Prey capture kinematics of ant-eating lizards". Journal of Experimental Biology. 208 (Pt 1): 115–127. Bibcode:2005JExpB.208..113M. doi:10.1242/jeb.01345. PMID 15601883. ProQuest 13293724.
  • Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
  • Gray JE (1841). "Description of some new Species and four Genera of Reptiles from Western Australia discovered by John Gould, Esq." The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 7: 86–91. (Moloch, new genus pp. 88–89; M. horridus, new species, p. 89).
  • Wilson, Steve; Swan, Gerry (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.

External links

Taxon identifiers
Moloch horridus
Categories: