New tiger cat species identified in Bolivia, first in over a century

Leopardus tilcayo is the first new living cat species named and described in more than a century. A wild cat that inhabits Bolivia’s cloud forests has been identified as a previously unknown species, marking the first time in over a century that a new living feline species has been formally named and described. Known as “tilcayo” by local communities, the cat is part of a group called tiger cats, which are found across much of South America. It was discovered in the Yungas forest, a mountainous region characterized by cloud cover and high humidity, according to researchers. The cat measures 46 cm (18 inches) long and weighs approximately 1.4 kg (3 pounds), making it smaller than an average domestic cat. Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National Geographic Explorer and one of the authors of the study published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology, stated, “Its fur is light brown … with irregularly shaped rosettes across its body.” Little is known about the cat’s biology and lifestyle. Remains of small rodents found in scat samples suggest they may be part of its diet, while camera-trap evidence indicates it could be more active at night, according to Nogales-Ascarrunz. Tiger cats are classified as cryptic species, meaning they cannot be easily distinguished by appearance alone, said Jonas Lescroart, an evolutionary biologist and co-lead author of the study from the University of Antwerp in Belgium. The observation of the Bolivian cat garnered interest because “its characteristics did not match the descriptions, most of them based on Brazilian cats,” Nogales-Ascarrunz explained. “This made us wonder, what tiger cat do we actually have in Bolivia?” The research team analyzed DNA from 38 cats sampled across several South American countries, including eight museum specimens. The study found that tiger cats are, in fact, five genetically distinct species. Lescroart remarked, “We never expected this Bolivian tiger cat to be a separate species, and no one had ever proposed it as a different animal, subspecies or otherwise.” Genetic analysis indicated that the tilcayo lineage separated from other tiger cats approximately 1.4 million years ago. The research team also described a new tiger cat subspecies in Peru’s Yungas, naming it Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo, after Antisuyu, the region of the old Inca Empire that includes the area it inhabits.