Also known as the horny toad, the North American horned lizard has an impressive arsenal of novel, powerful – and frankly weird – defences says Alex Morss <\/p>
You might think the world’s most powerful lizard is the Komodo dragon<\/a> \u2013 the largest and heaviest lizard in the world, with a venomous bite to boot. <\/strong><\/p> But power isn\u2019t always about size – and the world’s weirdest lizard has special powers that allows it to wield superiority over potential predators. <\/p> North American horned lizards – also known as horny toads – are just 9cm in length, yet are equipped with an impressive arsenal of novel, powerful defences. They boast excellent camouflage<\/a>; have armoured, spiky skin; and can inflate their bodies to double their size.<\/p> But their real super-power is their ability to shoot blood<\/a> \u2013 loaded with foul toxins<\/a> gleaned from a diet of venomous ants \u2013 from their eyes, to a distance of up to nine times their body length.<\/p> So precise is their aim that these little lizards can see off wolves and coyotes many times their size, blasting the predators square in the face. <\/p>Meet the North American horned lizard, the world’s weirdest lizard<\/h2>