A new species of endangered lizard has been found in south-eastern Australia.

Bizarre on Female First

Bizarre on Female First

For over a year, scientists have been studying the Grassland Earless Dragon, which has featured on the endangered species list since 1996, and they have discovered there are actually ''four'' separate ''species'' of the tiny lizard, which is patterned in a distinct green, brown and yellow colour and weighs around eight grams.

The author of the study, Dr Jane Melville from Museum Victoria, told Xinhua: ''Over the last year, I've been working with them and researchers at the University of Canberra, and we've been looking at the genetics and the morphology of the lizards.

''What we've discovered is that it's not one single species, but it's in fact four species.

Dr Melville found that the new species of lizard had four distinct classifications with different characteristics.