Adaptations
Behavioural AdaptationsA behavioral adaptation is that thorny devils also have a false head on the
back of their neck. When feeling threatened, they will hide their real head, leaving their fake head exposed. This helps them to survive because if a predator tries to bite them, it will bite their fake head which does not cause as much damage to the animal as if it had bitten the thorny devil's real head. It does not damage any vital parts of the body, therefore meaning the animal can still survive if attacked. Another behavioral adaptation is the way that the organism walks. Thorny lizards have an unusual distinctive trait, which is the way they walk. It involves them walking slowly as they stop often and rock back and forth. This characteristic slow, shaky movement appears very deliberate. Their jerky movements and constant freezing in place helps to conceal them if a predator spots them out in the open. This helps to increase their chance of survival. Physiological AdaptationsA physiological adaptation is that thorny devils are able to camouflage well into their surroundings as the colour of their skin matches the colour of the desert sand. They can also change to a darker colour during the night and winter to help blend in to their surroundings. This helps them to survive as it keeps them somewhat hiden from their predators as they are hard to spot amongst their surroundings. The predators would have a hard time spotting the thorny devils and will usually pass by them unknowingly.
Image above: Shows how well thorny devils are able to blend in with their surroundings to hide from predators.
Image taken from: https://okjdiscoveries.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/20-photos-of-land-animal-camouflage-mind-bomb-017/ |
Structural AdaptationsA structural adaptation is that thorny devils have spikes that cover their body also aids in making them look dangerous and scary, so that predators keep away. These spikes also make the animal very hard for a predator to eat, as it could injure the animal trying to eat it or simply warn them off from trying.
Another structural adaptation is that the skin of a thorny lizard is impervious which means that the animals neither sweats nor loses any water via its skin. This is very handy for them as water supply is limited in the arid deserts of Australia so they are able to conserve as much water as possible. Their skin is also covered in a system of small grooves or channels that all lead back to the corners of the thorny devils mouth. These channels allow the organism to absorb water via capillary action. Capillary action is the ability of liquids to flow through narrow spaces without any assistance and against gravity. This allows them to absorb dewdrops from the foliage that it moves through which increases their chance of survival as thorny devils live in dry areas where water supply is limited. This method allows them to collect water without having to drink it from somewhere. A third structural adaptation is their sticky tongue. A thorny devils diet consists of only ants. To account for this, they have a sticky tongue to help flick the ants up into their mouths. When they want to eat, they sit in the middle of an ant trail and flick each ant up with their tongue one by one as the ants stick to their tongue. This means that they can easily eat hundreds of ants in a short amount of time. To see the unique walk of the thorny devil, copy and paste this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxawWKuA4JM
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