Sucre: Scientists have formally identified a previously unknown wild cat species in Bolivia, marking the first discovery of a new living feline species in more than a century.
The small spotted cat, named Leopardus tilcayo, lives in the Yungas cloud forests on the eastern slopes of the Andes. Locally known as the tilcayo, it is roughly 46 centimetres long and weighs about 1.4 kilograms, making it smaller than the average domestic cat.
The discovery began with what appeared to be an ordinary rescue case. In 2016, biologist and National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales Ascarrunz was contacted about a “weird cat” that had been taken to a wildlife sanctuary.
A local man had found the animal as a kitten near a forest road and initially believed it was a domestic cat. After keeping it for about a year, he realised it was wild and transferred it to the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary.
Nogales Ascarrunz initially thought the animal belonged to a known group of small spotted cats called tiger cats. But its larger rosette patterns and other physical features did not match existing references.
The answer eventually came from genetics.
Researchers compared complete genomes from 38 cats across the Leopardus genus and found that the Bolivian animal was genetically distinct from other tiger cats. The study, published in the journal Current Biology, estimates that its lineage separated from other tiger cats about 1.4 million years ago.
The research also changes scientists’ understanding of tiger cats more broadly. What had once been treated as a single species is now understood as a group of five genetically distinct species, while the study also identifies a new tiger cat subspecies in Peru.
Scientists still know very little about the tilcayo. Only two live individuals have been examined, along with a small number of camera trap records. Evidence suggests it may be active mainly at night and feed on small rodents, but its population size, reproduction and wider range remain unclear.
