Scientists have identified a new species of wild cat in Bolivia’s Yungas region, marking the first such discovery in 100 years. The animal has been officially named leopardus tilcayo, commonly called the tilcayo tiger cat.
The spotted, slender feline is notably small, closer in size to a kitten than a typical house cat. Researchers say the exact size of its wild population is still unknown. As many as five tiger cat species exist in South America, and all face significant conservation pressure from disappearing habitat.
Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, who leads the Programa de Investigación de Félidos Bolivia, a wild cat conservation program, described the find as unusual for modern science.
“This time, it’s a cat. That’s really novel. And it hasn’t happened in 100 years,” she said. “No one else had named it. No one else had described it.”
She added that basic population data is still missing. “We really don’t know how many cats are still in the wild,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said. “We need science, we need more studies to answer this question, which is actually critical for its conservation.”
The animal’s small size initially threw researchers off. A man had brought the cat to a wildlife rehabilitation center believing it was an ordinary domestic kitten.
“I saw this cat. It was really, really small, and I couldn’t believe how small it was,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said. “I thought it was a kitten.”
Scientific American noted that identifying an entirely new mammal species — rather than a variation of one already known — is especially rare. The publication reported that the underlying study analyzed the genomes of 38 cats, including 26 Leopardus cats, in what co-lead author Jonas Lescroart, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, called “the most complete genetic study yet” of the group.
Nogales-Ascarrunz said the discovery underscores how much remains unknown about the natural world, and the stakes of protecting it.
“Describing a new cat species after more than 100 years shows how much we still have to learn about the biodiversity around us. But it also reminds us that we need to protect the Yungas forests, which are home to so many species — including some we are only beginning to understand,” she said.
