Four new species of legless lizards have been found living in unusual places in California.
The lizards were discovered on an empty lot in Bakersfield, Calif, oil derricks in the lower San Joaquin Valley, the Mojave dessert, and on a Los Angeles Airport runway the Science Recorder reported.
"This shows that there is a lot of undocumented biodiversity within California," said Theodore Papenfuss, a herpetologist with the University of California-Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, according to the Science Recorder.
James Parham, who works at California State University-Fullerton and is a colleague of Papenfuss' told Science Recorder, the lizards have existed for quite some time.
"These are animals that have existed in the San Joaquin Valley, separate from any other species, for millions of years, completely unknown," Parham said. "If you want to preserve biodiversity, it is the really distinct species like these that you want to preserve."
There are several hundred species of legless lizards worldwide. Thousands of years ago, some lizards got rid of their limbs so they could quickly dig into sand. Legless lizards are rarely noticed since they mostly live underground, and eat insects and larvae. Several are found in wet areas when people collect logs or rocks.
Papenfuss and Parham have looked for the legless lizards for the past 15 years and located one under leafs in the dunes to the west of LAX Science Recorder reported.
To be successful in their search, the two placed many pieces of cardboard around California wishing the species would utilize the areas beneath the cardboard as a shelter when they came up from the sand or soil.
From this method came the discovery of three other new kinds of legless lizards including the alexanderae, A. campi and A. grinnelli.
The species had been discovered before and were in collections around California but could not be identified since their color fades away when kept in alcohol.
