Photographer's Note
I decided to let this weekends postings go in the sign of "small Austrailan reptiles that I found on the road". Yesterday I showed you the Blue tongue.
Today we take a look at the Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus). We found this little guy on the road but not while driving this time. I think it would have been impossibe to see him from a car since they have great camoflage.
The thorny devil can grow to about 10-15cm (4-6 inches) long and it eats ants almost exclusively. It can be found in the central and western Australia where there is desert and dry bush land.
This fella is playing dead for us, you can see him sticking his tongue out and closing his eyes hoping that we will go away. His thorns would probably make most predators think twice about swallowing him but they are not sharp the way rose thorns are, I could pick him up with no troubles.
The thorny devil can actually change color, a bit like chameleons can, and they are very hard to spot when they are sitting still. I isolated the background and lessend the dynamic with levels, lowered saturation and changed the hue a tiny bit towards green to make him stand out better. Then I sharpened the whole pic a bit with unsharp mask.
Critiques | Translate
Liora
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1152 W: 142 N: 323]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif){kind=small}
(1857) 2003-11-16 17:43
Wow! that's really beautiful! so detailed and colorful. Very well done!
quegardens
(1469) 2003-11-16 17:48
What amazing colours which are well suited to camouflage in the Australian desert.Your notes are also very interesting and informative Mattias. I would not want to be walking bare foot anywhere near this critter!
![Silver Note Writer [C: 8 W: 0 N: 36]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/n-n-s.gif){kind=small}
mtolloczko
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 191 W: 26 N: 7]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-n.gif){kind=small}
(201) 2003-11-16 22:40
The skin of the thorny devil is not sharp and yes, you could pick him up without any problems, unlike the stone fish, which you may encounter where there are rocky shores.
You didn't pick him up for a closer inspection? They are just lizards, and this one is particularly cute. I hope you will encounter the frilly necked lizzard. When frilly necked lizards are threatened they stand up on their hind legs, stand their frill around their neck and make a run for it. Quite comical to watch. Your thorny devil is still difficult to see clearly.
mathiasmo
(1759) 2003-11-17 6:09
ok, this is not a scientific shot, but whatever! It's really great, specially for all those people who couldn't imagine that such lizard exists! I could write about the sharpness and the angle you choose, but no. The picture is very good. Thanks for sharing this Devil!
AdrianW
(2274) 2003-11-17 12:09
Good shot! He's a little hard to make out from the background though IMO. To that end, I've prepared you a Workshop, I hope you'll like it :-)
zto
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Workshop Editor/Silver Note Writer [C: 809 W: 233 N: 19]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-s.gif){kind=small}
(268) 2003-11-17 16:01
Aow. Don't want to step on that one. :) I agree with Mathiasmo on this one. Good capture but as you say the angle is a bit high. Most important though, it's an intresting picture.
cdewet
![Gold Star Critiquer [C: 1182 W: 0 N: 0]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-n-n.gif){kind=small}
(0) 2003-11-18 13:25
Lovely beasty, do you have one of the frilled lizard? Lucky you. What about him and a kookabarra - my favorite bird from OZ. Not that I want to see him eaten, wildlife is just SO facinating. Concur with Mathias.
Naomi (0) 2004-04-29 21:30
Wow, c'est vraiment une photo qui me plaît, j'adore ces petites bêtes. Merci de partager ça avec nous.
roconnell
(327) 2004-05-13 4:50
Amazing. This Thorny Devil takes camouflage to the next level - color and texture. Your composition and photo editing worked well to emphasize the lizard's seemingly rough exterior. Well done.
zilinskyi
![Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 30 W: 0 N: 30]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/s-n-s.gif){kind=small}
(493) 2004-09-04 1:47
A very beautiful photo. Thank you for the explanation. Looking at his camouflage colors I would think that he hides in dropping leaves rather than in a uniform desert color.
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Mattias Backlund (sarastro)
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 175 W: 148 N: 62]](//i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(590) - Genre: Lugares
- Medium: Cor
- Date Taken: 1990-10-00
- Categories: Natureza
- Camera: Nikon F-301, Nikkor 50mm, Skylight
- Versão da Foto: Versão Original, Workshop
- Tema(s): Road Creatures, Australian wildlife [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2003-11-16 17:36
Discussions
- To mtolloczko: (1)
by sarastro, last updated 2003-11-17 12:14 - To mathiasmo (1)
by sarastro, last updated 2003-11-17 12:16
