Most of the time, the toad-headed agama looks like any other desert lizard. Tan and fleet-footed, the reptile calls the arid regions of Central Asia and north-west China home. But in an instant ...

As Fleming tells Mindy Weisberger for Live Science: "We sat down on a log to process the samples, and the toad kept running into our feet. When we looked closer, we realized it had no face!" ...