The Mount Lyell shrew is as mysterious as it is adorable. And now, there are photos of this elusive tiny mammal, which is native to California. Believe it or not, none existed before.
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“Over a century after its discovery, the Mount Lyell shrew has finally been photographed alive for the first time,” wrote the California Academy of Sciences in an Instagram post sharing a video documenting the process. “Until last October, the Mount Lyell Shrew was the ONLY known mammal species in California that had never been photographed alive.”
Researchers visited the shrew’s habitat in the Eastern Sierra Nevada hoping to study and visually document this rare animal. They worked around the clock to monitor their traps, and their efforts were rewarded. They temporarily captured several shrews, including at least one Mount Lyell shrew, took some photos, and recorded data about the shrews’ behavior before releasing them back into the wild.
Learn more about the Mount Lyell shrew and see the first photos and video footage of this species here: