At first glance it looks like any other mammal, but the Pyrenean desman is no run-of-the-mill animal.

That's because, unlike more common small mammals, the aquatic creature has a long snout that it uses to snorkel and sniff out insect prey through the waters of the Iberian peninsula and other parts of Western Europe.

The Pyrenean desman is also unique because it marks the 8,000th animal Sartore has photographed and added to the Photo Ark, his lifelong project to photograph at least 12,000 of Earth's species in captivity. (Read about what inspired Sartore to build his photo ark.)

Since Sartore began his initiative 13 years ago, he's been a busy man, visiting over 40 countries to photograph animals in zoos