Four new species of legless lizards found in California

California biologists have discovered four new species of legless lizards in unexpected locations in California.

The four species of eight-inch-long, snake-like lizards have not been seen until now because they spend most of their lives underground, where they eat insects and larvae.

According to a statement from the University of California Berkeley, the new species of lizards have been found in such places as a vacant lot in Bakersfield, in oil derricks in San Joaquin Valley, on the edge the Mojave desert, and at the end of one of the runways at Los Angeles International Airport.

“This shows that there is a lot of undocumented biodiversity within California,” said Theodore Papenfuss, a reptile and amphibian expert with UC Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, according to redOrbit. Papenfuss found and identified the new species along with James Parham of California State University, Fullerton.

“These are animals that have existed in the San Joaquin Valley, separate from any other species, for millions of years, completely unknown,” Parham said, in a report by Discovery.

There are more than 200 different species of legless lizards worldwide and they are well adapted to living in the soil, according to Papenfuss. Lizards on five different continents evolved into limbless reptiles millions of years ago in order to become better at burrowing.

The researchers are currently working with the California Department of Fish and Water to determine whether they need be concerned about the species of legless lizards and whether or not the lizards need protected status.