Curiosity Heightens as Scientists Discover Legless Lizards in California

Curiosity regarding mysterious creatures continues with some legless lizards spotted in California. A pair of herpetologists in California has discovered four species of legless Anniella pulchra lizards. These lizards are often distinguishable from snakes on the basis of one or more of the following characteristics: possessing eyelids, possessing external ear openings, lack of broad belly scales, and/or a very long tail (while snakes have a long body and short tail).

These lizards were spotted in unlikely habitats among central valley oil derricks, sand dunes at the end of a Los Angeles airport runway and other arid and desolate spaces. They are yellow-bellied legless lizards, and their species name is A. stebbinsi, after 98-year-old herpetologist Robert C. Stebbins. The three other newly identified species were found in the San Joaquin Valley, over 200 miles to the north, where they likely lived for millions of years, Papenfuss and Parham’s research showed. The silver-bellied A. alexanderae was found in the oilfields near the city of Taft, the A. campi, with a yellow underside, was found in three canyons at the outskirts of the Mojave Desert, and the purple-stomached A. grinnelli, was discovered in a handful of vacant lots in downtown Bakersfield, a city of 352,000.

Recent discoveries have revealed various other mysterious creatures and travellers all over the world felt the curiosity to visit these places to have a glance at these mysterious or legendary creatures. Some other mysterious creatures that have been recently spotted have been listed below:-

• Often considered as a myth by most experts a Mississippi man claimed the existence of a strange creature named Chupacabra in Spain. Matthew Harrell of Leake County killed the bizarre-looking animal Wednesday morning while “coon hunting” in a chicken coop. The animal Harrell shot is almost without hair and its nails are longer than what most dogs would have on its paws.
• A species of shark that can walk on its fins on the bottom of the ocean has been found in Indonesia. Hemiscyllium Halmahera uses its fins to crawl on the ocean bed and forage for small fish and crustaceans; this was revealed by scientists from Conservation International.
•  Tourists and residents of Villaricos were mystified when a strange-looking sea creature came up ashore a beach in the southern coastal town on Thursday. From “horned sea monster” to a “mutant fish”, the mysterious carcass has become a major center of attraction for the people. Thus it would not be wrong to say something fishy is going on in Spain.