Four New Legless Lizard Species Identified in California

Four new species of legless lizards have been found in unlikely habitats in California. The snake-like creatures were discovered on the end of an airport runway, at the edge of the Mojave desert, a vacant lot in Bakersfield and on an oil derrick.

The discovery raises the number of legless lizard species known in California from one to five.

"This shows that there is a lot of undocumented biodiversity within California," said Theodore Papenfuss, a herpetologist, with University of California, Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Papenfuss discovered and identified the new species with James Parham of California State University, Fullerton. They reported their finding in the journal Breviora, a publication of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

"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."

Legless lizards, which resemble snakes or worms, are well suited for life in loose soil. They are seldom seen and mostly live underground, sustaining on a diet of insects and larvae. The simple creatures spend most of their lives in an area no bigger than a dining room table. There are more than 200 species of legless lizards worldwide.

The researchers named the new-found legless lizards after four renowned UC Berkeley scientists, only one of whom is still living.

Interestingly, all four new species had been collected before and were persevered in collections around California, but preserving the lizards in alcohol causes them to lose their coloration and makes them appear identical. They were differentiated through genetic analysis, though later an assessment of the number and arrangement of scales proved to be an adequate.

The researchers are working with state officials to determine if the new species need special protection status. Currently the California lists the first known lizard as a species of special concern.

"These species definitely warrant attention, but we need to do a lot more surveys in California before we can know whether they need higher listing," Parham said

Papenfuss added that there could be ways to protect the lizards' habitat without establishing legal status.

"They don't need a lot of habitat, so as long as we have some protected sites, they are probably OK," he said.