Momentarily pausing after eating some mealworms, an elusive shrew’s long snout pointed skywards, unaware of the historic portrait that had just been captured.

Three college students found a way to take photos of the Mt. Lyell shrew, which has never been photographed in the 100 years since the mammal was discovered.

Until last year, only one California mammal species had never been caught on camera. A group of Bay Area researchers just shared the first photo of it.

A momentous moment for the wildlife world was captured on camera after a live Mount Lyell shrew was photographed.

The elusive animal is native to the Eastern Sierra Nevada region and spends most of its time underground. It was first discovered over a century ago by zoologist Clinton Hart Merriam, a New York City native who was known as the “father of mammalogy.”