Predator defence can be a pretty big part of an animal's life in the wild, whether you play dead, try and blend in with your environment, or in the case of the armadillo girdled lizard ( Ouroborus cataphractus ), bite your own tail to survive. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The armadillo girdled lizards live in an area known as the Succulent Karoo in South Africa and can live with as many as 60 of their family members in sandstone rocky crevices.

These spiny creatures eat a diet of insects, especially termites, and scorpions ; however if they are surprised by a predator they roll up into a circle putting their tails into their mouths. The ring this creates helps to protect the more vulnerable area of the stomach

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