Legless Lizards at LAX, Not Snakes On a Plane

Scientists have discovered four new species of legless lizards, which are native to California. And one of those species finds its home near LAX, Los Angeles's biggest airport.

But even if this lizard made its way up out of the sand dunes near the Los Angeles International Airport and into a plane, we wouldn't be shouting about "Snakes on a plane." That's because these legless lizards are not snakes.

It's confusing, because snakes are indeed lizards without legs, but there are actually many lizards - about 200 species worldwide - without legs that aren't technically snakes.

James Parham, assistant professor of geological sciences California State University, was one of the scientists behind the discovery, explained to the LA Times the major differences between snakes and legless lizards. "Anniella," the scientific name for the group of legless lizards most recently discovered, "can blink at you, but snakes can't because they don't have eyelids," said Parham. "Snakes can coil up a lot more, and they are more slithery," he explained. "Anniella tend to be more rigid."

The legless lizards discovered by Parham and his research partner can grow up to eight inches in length, and spend most of their time living underground, eating insects and larvae. They have silver or purple bellies, as opposed to the yellow bellied Anniella previously known.

The three other speces of Anniella lizards were also found in California, in the San Joaquin Valley - right on the edge of the Mojave Desert. Specifically, the lizards have been found in a vacant lot in downtown Bakersfield, along oil derricks in the valley, and right at the end of one of the runways at LAX, according to the release.

 "These are animals that have existed in the San Joaquin Valley, separate from any other species, for millions of years, completely unknown," said Parham. "If you want to preserve biodiversity, it is the really distinct species like these that you want to preserve."

Parham, along with Theodore Papenfuss, a reptile and amphibian expert at the UC Berkley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, published their findings in a paper in the journal Breviora on Tuesday, Sep. 17. The paper is the result of 15 years of research, searching California for new species of legless lizards.

To lure the shy, burrowing legless snakes into visible areas, Papenfuss would distribute pieces of cardboard - thousands throughout California - in areas he thought most likely to have legless lizards living nearby. For years, he'd check under the cardboard, where the ground is moist and cool, for Anniella resting or hunting there. Another legless lizard species was found in California previous to the discovery of these four distinct species.

"They are one of the most poorly studied reptiles in California," Parham said. "Because they live under the sand, you can't see what they are doing, and you can't even do a mark-and-recapture because you can't reliably capture these things."

"This shows that there is a lot of undocumented biodiversity within California," said Papenfuss.