# Thorny devil (*Moloch horridus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/moloch-horridus  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The thorny devil (Moloch horridus), also called thorny dragon, thorny lizard or mountain devil, is a lizard in the family Agamidae, subfamily Amphibolurinae. It is a small reptile with an adult body mass from 20.4 to 25.9 g, a representative mass of 23.15 g and a body length of 9.257 cm. Our sources give 7.1 young per litter or eggs per clutch, with 1 litter or clutch per year. The IUCN Red List assesses the thorny devil globally as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 20.4 g – 25.9 g |
| Length | 9.26 cm – 10.6 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 20 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | desert, shrubland |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3 – 10 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months – 3 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 – 2 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Agamidae
- genus: Moloch
- species: *Moloch horridus* Gray, 1841

Synonyms: *Acanthosaurus gibbosus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is a thorny devil?

The thorny devil is a lizard, a reptile in the family Agamidae and the order Squamata.

### How heavy is a thorny devil?

Adult thorny devils weigh from 20.4 to 25.9 g, with a representative value of 23.15 g.

### How big is a thorny devil?

The thorny devil has a body length of 9.257 cm and falls in the small size class, defined by adult body mass of 10 g to 1 kg.

### Is the thorny devil endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.

### How many young does a thorny devil have?

Our sources give 7.1 young per litter or eggs per clutch, with 1 litter or clutch per year.

### What is the scientific name of the thorny devil and who named it?

The scientific name is Moloch horridus, named by Gray, 1841.

### What other names does the thorny devil have?

It is also called thorny dragon, thorny lizard and mountain devil.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Thorny devil (Moloch horridus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/moloch-horridus