Latest news with #MountLyell
Ammon
13-02-2025
- Science
- Ammon
Elusive Californian mammal captured on camera for first time ever
Momentarily pausing after eating some mealworms, an elusive shrew's long snout pointed skywards, unaware of the historic portrait that had just been captured. Not a single Mount Lyell shrew had ever been photographed alive before, making them the only known mammal species in California to have eluded human cameras, according to the California Academy of Sciences. That all changed in October when recently graduated wildlife photographer Vishal Subramanyan along with student scientists Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes ventured out into the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains and captured six live Mount Lyell shrews (Sorex lyelli). There, they photographed and observed them before setting them free. The initial idea originated with Jain, a student at University of California, Berkeley, who said he was 'shocked' to find that no one had ever taken a photo of a live Mount Lyell shrew. In collaboration with University of California Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Jain, Subramanyan and Forbes devised a plan to search the streams and wetland habitats that crisscross the sparse landscape near the small community of Lee Vining, about 300 miles (482 kilometers) east of San Francisco. 'I'm always down for a crazy adventure. So I said, 'sure, why not?' We should give this a try,' Subramanyan told CNN Monday. Shrews have such a high metabolic rate that they die if they stop eating for a few hours, meaning that they don't survive long in traps. The team set more than 100 pitfall traps, designed for shrews to fall into as they walked across the ground, and constantly monitored the traps for three consecutive days, only sleeping for two hours at a time to monitor the animals' wellbeing. The team photographed the shrew against a white background, as well as a natural one. Vishal Subramanyan, Prakrit Jain, and Harper Forbes 'We caught a Mount Lyell shrew within like the first two hours… and I think the fact that we ended up catching six of them, and we caught one so easily shows that it's not crazy difficult,' Subramanyan said. 'It just shows that it's generally an underappreciated species in an underappreciated ecosystem that people haven't spent the time, and been able to actually bring dedicated focus to the shrews.' They also recorded four different species of shrews in the area, some of whom were so similar to the Mount Lyell shrew that they later ran genetic tests to confirm that they had indeed spotted one. 'Handling the shrews was a little bit difficult,' Forbes told CNN, adding that they cut off a small piece of the shrews' tails for genetic testing. 'They bite and they're venomous. So we had to improvise quite a bit. We had to weigh them in plastic bags, and they're only a few grams, but they chew through the plastic bags. They're kind of a pain generally, but they're worth it.' By capturing the shrews alive, the team said they were able to observe their behavior, noticing the mammals' habit of stashing food away for later or taking micronaps. Photographing live animals, particularly ones who are smaller and more obscure, also allows the public to connect with them, helping conservation efforts. Mount Lyell shrews are extremely threatened by the climate crisis and could lose up to 90% of their cold, high altitude habitat as the Earth warms, researchers said, citing a study conducted by UC Davis. 'Without that kind of public awareness and outreach through photographs, the species could have just quietly disappeared under the radar, and nobody would have had any idea about it,' said Subramanyan. CNN
The Guardian
31-01-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Week in wildlife in pictures: a new shrew, itchy deer and tortoises on rafts
Kenny, a seven-year-old fallow buck, and friend use a donated Christmas tree as a scratching post at Auchingarrich Wildlife Park, Crieff, UK. The park asks people to drop off their trees in return for a free hot drink. The trees are then used around the park in many ways – as food, climbing frames, enrichment, bedding, woodchip and more Photograph: Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Leaf-cutter ants take their haul back to their nest at the Metropolitan Natural Park, a protected area in Panama City Photograph: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images A newborn albino red-bellied short-necked turtle resting next to its sibling at the Ferme aux Crocodiles in Pierrelatte, south-eastern France. The birth of an albino individual of this aquatic species native to Australia and New Guinea is an extremely rare phenomenon Photograph: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images Wild boar roam the streets near Calpe, Spain. The boar are causing problems for the tourist hotspot: thousands of the animals have come down from the hills to the towns of the Costa Blanca. Calpe has even hired wildlife experts to round up the boars and remove them Photograph: Mats Rennstam/BNPS An endangered tortoise clings to a floating branch in a flood in southern Madagascar. During Cyclone Dikeledi, thousands of critically endangered tortoises were swept away from the Lavavolo Tortoise Center, where they had been confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers, and were left swimming for their lives … Photograph: AP … Sanctuary staff, local volunteers and even police officers joined together in a rescue operation, wading through the floodwaters with large baskets to collect the bewildered tortoises. Some rescuers converted damaged building structures into makeshift rafts for the tortoises to ride on as they moved around to find others. They believe they managed to save more than 10,000 tortoises Photograph: AP Valentine's day may yet be a happy one for the greater mouse-eared bat: this female, found hibernating in the South Downs, joins Britain's loneliest bat as very nearly the only members of their species in the UK. The male, who is elderly, spends the winter in a disused railway tunnel in Sussex. Ecologists believe population recovery is possible if the two of them can only get together Photograph: Daniel Whitby A robin perched on a tree sings out, his breath visible in the crisp air in Kidderminster, UK Photograph: Lee Hudson/Alamy Live News Introducing the Mount Lyell shrew, the only known California mammal never photographed alive, until now. Three young scientists caught five of the tiny shrews in their pitfall traps overnight (all were quickly released). The furry creatures are less than 4in long, and weigh only a gram and a half – about the same as two paperclips Photograph: California Academy of Sciences A red fox hunts for mice on a snowy field in Kars, Turkey Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A baby cream-bellied thrush waits to be fed in its nest in Asunción, Paraguay Photograph: Andre M Chang/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock Yoko, a baby swell shark, surprised marine researchers in Louisiana, US, by hatching from an egg laid in a tank inhabited by female sharks that had not had any contact with males for three years. Biologists were unsure whether the egg was produced by parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) or delayed fertilisation Photograph: Shreveport Aquarium Deer play at Nara Park, near Osaka, Japan Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images Earlier this week a young minke whale swam up to a ferry approaching Sydney, Australia – a rare sight, since these whales usually stay in Antarctic waters. Scientists were unsure why it had come so far north. A wildlife researcher said it could just be a case of 'misnavigation'. 'The good thing is it looks in good condition, and it was observed going out to [sea], which is a good thing,' she said. 'If we'll see it again, I'm not sure' Photograph: Jamie and Steve/Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises A pelican patiently waits close to fishing boats, hoping to feast on leftover fish from the day's catch in Balıkesir, Turkey Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A giraffe walks past golfers during day one of the SDC Open in Bela-Bela, South Africa Photograph:Migrating gray cranes roam the Agamon Hula conservation lake near the Lebanon border, northern Israel. Hula Lake nature reserve, home for thousands of migrating birds in the autumn and spring, reopened to the public in December 2024 after being closed for more than a year due to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA Monarch butterflies alight on the branches of an oyamel fir tree in the Piedra Herrada sanctuary, Temascaltepec, Mexico. The monarch butterfly biosphere reserve was declared a Natural World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2008 Photograph: Carlos Santiago/Eyepix Group/Rex/Shutterstock
CNN
28-01-2025
- Science
- CNN
Elusive Californian mammal captured on camera for first time ever
Momentarily pausing after eating some mealworms, an elusive shrew's long snout pointed skywards, unaware of the historic portrait that had just been captured. Not a single Mount Lyell shrew had ever been photographed alive before, making them the only known mammal species in California to have eluded human cameras, according to the California Academy of Sciences. That all changed in October when recently graduated wildlife photographer Vishal Subramanyan along with student scientists Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes ventured out into the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains and captured six live Mount Lyell shrews (Sorex lyelli). There, they photographed and observed them before setting them free. The initial idea originated with Jain, a student at University of California, Berkeley, who said he was 'shocked' to find that no one had ever taken a photo of a live Mount Lyell shrew. In collaboration with University of California Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Jain, Subramanyan and Forbes devised a plan to search the streams and wetland habitats that crisscross the sparse landscape near the small community of Lee Vining, about 300 miles (482 kilometers) east of San Francisco. 'I'm always down for a crazy adventure. So I said, 'sure, why not?' We should give this a try,' Subramanyan told CNN Monday. Shrews have such a high metabolic rate that they die if they stop eating for a few hours, meaning that they don't survive long in traps. The team set more than 100 pitfall traps, designed for shrews to fall into as they walked across the ground, and constantly monitored the traps for three consecutive days, only sleeping for two hours at a time to monitor the animals' wellbeing. 'We caught a Mount Lyell shrew within like the first two hours… and I think the fact that we ended up catching six of them, and we caught one so easily shows that it's not crazy difficult,' Subramanyan said. 'It just shows that it's generally an underappreciated species in an underappreciated ecosystem that people haven't spent the time, and been able to actually bring dedicated focus to the shrews.' They also recorded four different species of shrews in the area, some of whom were so similar to the Mount Lyell shrew that they later ran genetic tests to confirm that they had indeed spotted one. 'Handling the shrews was a little bit difficult,' Forbes told CNN, adding that they cut off a small piece of the shrews' tails for genetic testing. 'They bite and they're venomous. So we had to improvise quite a bit. We had to weigh them in plastic bags, and they're only a few grams, but they chew through the plastic bags. They're kind of a pain generally, but they're worth it.' By capturing the shrews alive, the team said they were able to observe their behavior, noticing the mammals' habit of stashing food away for later or taking micronaps. Photographing live animals, particularly ones who are smaller and more obscure, also allows the public to connect with them, helping conservation efforts. Mount Lyell shrews are extremely threatened by the climate crisis and could lose up to 90% of their cold, high altitude habitat as the Earth warms, researchers said, citing a study conducted by UC Davis. 'Without that kind of public awareness and outreach through photographs, the species could have just quietly disappeared under the radar, and nobody would have had any idea about it,' said Subramanyan.
CNN
28-01-2025
- Science
- CNN
Elusive Californian mammal captured on camera for first time ever
Momentarily pausing after eating some mealworms, an elusive shrew's long snout pointed skywards, unaware of the historic portrait that had just been captured. Not a single Mount Lyell shrew had ever been photographed alive before, making them the only known mammal species in California to have eluded human cameras, according to the California Academy of Sciences. That all changed in October when recently graduated wildlife photographer Vishal Subramanyan along with student scientists Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes ventured out into the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains and captured six live Mount Lyell shrews (Sorex lyelli). There, they photographed and observed them before setting them free. The initial idea originated with Jain, a student at University of California, Berkeley, who said he was 'shocked' to find that no one had ever taken a photo of a live Mount Lyell shrew. In collaboration with University of California Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Jain, Subramanyan and Forbes devised a plan to search the streams and wetland habitats that crisscross the sparse landscape near the small community of Lee Vining, about 300 miles (482 kilometers) east of San Francisco. 'I'm always down for a crazy adventure. So I said, 'sure, why not?' We should give this a try,' Subramanyan told CNN Monday. Shrews have such a high metabolic rate that they die if they stop eating for a few hours, meaning that they don't survive long in traps. The team set more than 100 pitfall traps, designed for shrews to fall into as they walked across the ground, and constantly monitored the traps for three consecutive days, only sleeping for two hours at a time to monitor the animals' wellbeing. 'We caught a Mount Lyell shrew within like the first two hours… and I think the fact that we ended up catching six of them, and we caught one so easily shows that it's not crazy difficult,' Subramanyan said. 'It just shows that it's generally an underappreciated species in an underappreciated ecosystem that people haven't spent the time, and been able to actually bring dedicated focus to the shrews.' They also recorded four different species of shrews in the area, some of whom were so similar to the Mount Lyell shrew that they later ran genetic tests to confirm that they had indeed spotted one. 'Handling the shrews was a little bit difficult,' Forbes told CNN, adding that they cut off a small piece of the shrews' tails for genetic testing. 'They bite and they're venomous. So we had to improvise quite a bit. We had to weigh them in plastic bags, and they're only a few grams, but they chew through the plastic bags. They're kind of a pain generally, but they're worth it.' By capturing the shrews alive, the team said they were able to observe their behavior, noticing the mammals' habit of stashing food away for later or taking micronaps. Photographing live animals, particularly ones who are smaller and more obscure, also allows the public to connect with them, helping conservation efforts. Mount Lyell shrews are extremely threatened by the climate crisis and could lose up to 90% of their cold, high altitude habitat as the Earth warms, researchers said, citing a study conducted by UC Davis. 'Without that kind of public awareness and outreach through photographs, the species could have just quietly disappeared under the radar, and nobody would have had any idea about it,' said Subramanyan.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Elusive Californian mammal captured on camera for first time ever
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Momentarily pausing after eating some mealworms, an elusive shrew's long snout pointed skywards, unaware of the historic portrait that had just been captured. Not a single Mount Lyell shrew had ever been photographed alive before, making them the only known mammal species in California to have eluded human cameras, according to the California Academy of Sciences. That all changed in October when recently graduated wildlife photographer Vishal Subramanyan along with student scientists Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes ventured out into the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains and captured six live Mount Lyell shrews (Sorex lyelli). There, they photographed and observed them before setting them free. The initial idea originated with Jain, a student at University of California, Berkeley, who said he was 'shocked' to find that no one had ever taken a photo of a live Mount Lyell shrew. In collaboration with University of California Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Jain, Subramanyan and Forbes devised a plan to search the streams and wetland habitats that crisscross the sparse landscape near the small community of Lee Vining, about 300 miles (482 kilometers) east of San Francisco. 'I'm always down for a crazy adventure. So I said, 'sure, why not?' We should give this a try,' Subramanyan told CNN Monday. Shrews have such a high metabolic rate that they die if they stop eating for a few hours, meaning that they don't survive long in traps. The team set more than 100 pitfall traps, designed for shrews to fall into as they walked across the ground, and constantly monitored the traps for three consecutive days, only sleeping for two hours at a time to monitor the animals' wellbeing. 'We caught a Mount Lyell shrew within like the first two hours… and I think the fact that we ended up catching six of them, and we caught one so easily shows that it's not crazy difficult,' Subramanyan said. 'It just shows that it's generally an underappreciated species in an underappreciated ecosystem that people haven't spent the time, and been able to actually bring dedicated focus to the shrews.' They also recorded four different species of shrews in the area, some of whom were so similar to the Mount Lyell shrew that they later ran genetic tests to confirm that they had indeed spotted one. 'Handling the shrews was a little bit difficult,' Forbes told CNN, adding that they cut off a small piece of the shrews' tails for genetic testing. 'They bite and they're venomous. So we had to improvise quite a bit. We had to weigh them in plastic bags, and they're only a few grams, but they chew through the plastic bags. They're kind of a pain generally, but they're worth it.' By capturing the shrews alive, the team said they were able to observe their behavior, noticing the mammals' habit of stashing food away for later or taking micronaps. Photographing live animals, particularly ones who are smaller and more obscure, also allows the public to connect with them, helping conservation efforts. Mount Lyell shrews are extremely threatened by the climate crisis and could lose up to 90% of their cold, high altitude habitat as the Earth warms, researchers said, citing a study conducted by UC Davis. 'Without that kind of public awareness and outreach through photographs, the species could have just quietly disappeared under the radar, and nobody would have had any idea about it,' said Subramanyan.
