NEW TIGER CAT SPECIES IDENTIFIED IN BOLIVIA

Fri 18 September 2026:

‘Tilcayo’ becomes the first newly described living feline species in more than a century

A small wild cat found in Bolivia’s mist-covered cloud forests has been confirmed as a previously unknown species, marking the first formal identification of a new living feline species in more than 100 years.

Known locally as the “tilcayo,” the animal belongs to the tiger cat group, a collection of small wild cats found across South America.

Researchers discovered the species in Bolivia’s Yungas forest, a mountainous ecosystem characterised by dense vegetation, persistent cloud cover and high humidity.

The newly named species, Leopardus tilcayo, is around 46 centimetres (18 inches) long and weighs approximately 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds), making it smaller than a typical domestic cat.

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Distinctive Appearance

The cat has a light-brown coat marked with irregular rosette-shaped patterns.

“Its fur is light brown … with irregularly shaped rosettes across its body,” according to Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National Geographic Explorer and co-author of the study published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

Scientists say relatively little is known about the species, including its behaviour, reproduction and habitat requirements.

Analysis of scat samples containing remains of small rodents suggests that they could be part of its diet. Camera-trap observations also indicate that the animal may be primarily active during the night, Nogales-Ascarrunz said.

A Hidden Diversity of Tiger Cats

Tiger cats are considered cryptic species, meaning that closely related species can look extremely similar and are difficult to distinguish based solely on their physical characteristics, said evolutionary biologist Jonas Lescroart of Belgium’s University of Antwerp, who co-led the study.

Researchers became particularly interested in the Bolivian population after noticing differences from existing descriptions.

“its characteristics did not match the descriptions, most of them based on Brazilian cats”, Nogales-Ascarrunz said. “This made us wonder, what tiger cat do we actually have in Bolivia?”

To investigate, the researchers conducted genetic analysis on 38 tiger cats collected from several South American countries. The sample included eight specimens preserved in museums.

The findings revealed that what had previously been considered tiger cats actually represented five genetically distinct species.

Lineage Split Millions of Years Ago

The discovery surprised the researchers, who had not previously considered the Bolivian population to be a separate species.

“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,” Lescroart said.

Genetic evidence indicates that the lineage leading to the tilcayo separated from other tiger cats approximately 1.4 million years ago, highlighting the previously undocumented evolutionary diversity of South America’s small wild cats.

The researchers also identified a new tiger cat subspecies in Peru’s Yungas region.

It has been named Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo, drawing its name from Antisuyu, one of the regions of the former Inca Empire that encompassed the area where the subspecies is found.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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