Mount Lyell Shrew Photographed Alive for the First Time

Three student researchers captured images of California's elusive Mount Lyell shrew, a species rarely seen and poorly understood, during a field expedition in the Sierra Nevada.

• The Mount Lyell shrew, a tiny mammal native to California's Sierra Nevada, was photographed alive for the first time by a team of student researchers.
• This species, known to science since 1902, had not been documented alive for nearly two decades and had never been photographed prior to this discovery.
• The students used low-tech traps baited with cat food and mealworms, checking them frequently to prevent harm to the shrews, which have extremely high metabolisms and require constant food intake.
• Genetic testing confirmed the captured shrews as Mount Lyell shrews, a species classified as highly vulnerable to climate change due to its dependence on shrinking high-altitude habitats.
• The project highlights the importance of documenting biodiversity in changing ecosystems and aims to raise awareness of the conservation challenges facing lesser-known species.

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