Last October, a photographer and two scientific students observed and photographed for the first of the Musagues of Mont Lyell.
Mont Lyell Musagnes captured and photographed for the first time
It is a historical first. Musagues from Mont Lyell, an endemic species of California, were captured by Vishal Subramanyan, animal photographer and scientific students Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes, last October. The latter observed and photographed these little mammals, before releaseing them.
Knowing that these Musagnes have never been photographed alive, pushed the three men to go in search of them, which turned out to be less difficult than we think. “We caught a Mount Lyell Musagaine in the first two hours … and I think that the fact that we ended up catching six, and that we have caught one so easily, shows that it is not very difficult”said the photographer at CNN.
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A poisonous and threatened animal
The various observations made it possible to learn more about this animal which remained little known. The team said the Mount Lyell Musagaine used to do micro-sests and store food for later. It must be said that this habit is essential, because these little mammals, measuring less than 10 cm, have a high metabolism, so much so that if they stop eating for a few hours, they can die, as emphasizes CNN.
Another interesting fact, this animal is poisonous. Forbes, one of the students, told the American media that the Musagnes of Mont Lyell “Breast and are poisonous”. This little mammal of the Soricidae family is extremely threatened by the climate crisis. According to a study carried out by the UC Davis, 90% of their habitat, cold and high altitude, could be destroyed in the future.
These endemic animals of California
The United States is known to be a country where biodiversity is rich, and California is an example. Apart from the Musarigne of Mont Lyell, there are several other endemic species of the State located west of the American country. Among them, there is for example the giant rat-kangaroo.
This little mammal is a kind of rodents of the heteromyidae family and was described for the first time in 1904. It is not the only rodent endemic to California, since there is among others the coastal mouse of the harvests or the Spermophile Mohave. There are also many species of snakes such as the striped snake of San Francisco, or birds such as yellow beak.
Source: CNN
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