Six Spine Yellow Tailed Lizard One day I was heading back to my camp after my early morning walk. What I saw next surprised me! I saw a yellow tail with half a dozen silver spikes on it. Soon after, a red body came up out the sand, and then a purple head came into view. Right away, I saw that the tail was just as long as the body. I tried to go up to the animal and grab it at the front of it's head, but one of the six spines on it's tail shot out and missed my head by a couple inches. I felt dazed by this. After that spike shot at me, another one quickly replaced itself in the same spot on it's tail. I walked around the new species, grabbed it by the lower part of the tail, and aimed the tail the other way so it could not shoot me with one of his pin pointy spines. I came around the animal, and dragged the so-called lizard back to my camp. I've been studying this animal for two days now. I put it in a fenced area so it couldn't escape while I watched it. It gets its water from the bottom of its feet. There are suction cups on the bottom of his feet that attract and suck up water deep under the ground. It also digs up fruit that exists under the ground, and when it eats the fruit, the lizard turns it into water and energy. The fruit looks like an apple. The lizard I discovered also eats cacti. This lizard is called the Six Spine Yellow Tailed Lizard. It lives in the Sahara Desert. It is very protective of its territory and will fight off animals twice his own size. It has very poor eye site, but a great sense of hearing and smell. The lizard eats, drinks and sleeps during the day. He burrows backward, tail first into the ground. While burrowing, his spiked tail protects him from any predators or rocks that he might smash into. When the lizard burrows, the tails spins in a circle to make a three-foot in diameter hole so his body can fit through. He digs under the sand to keep cool in the hot sun. While burrowing, he also looks for food buried under the ground. I was astonished that this lizard can keep cool, especially with the dark colors of his body. The body is dark red and the head is bluish purple. I just discovered this afternoon that the yellow tail goes over the body to reflect the heat of the sun. I also discovered today that the spines on the end of the lizard's tail are poisonous. Thank goodness I didn't get hit.