Scientists have formally identified a new species of wild cat living in the cloud forests of Bolivia, the first time a living feline species has been named and described in more than a century. The cat, known locally as the tilcayo and now given the scientific name Leopardus tilcayo, inhabits the Yungas — a rugged, cloud-draped mountain forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes, a region of exceptional biodiversity but difficult to access. Slightly smaller than the average domestic cat, the tilcayo measures around 46cm in length and weighs about 1.4kg, with light-brown fur marked by irregularly shaped rosettes. The findings were published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.
The discovery traces back to 2016, when a small kitten was brought to a wildlife rescue centre in Bolivia after locals noticed it looked and behaved unusually for a house cat. The animal, affectionately nicknamed Tigrino, was initially logged as a northern tiger cat, a species found across Central and South America. But Bolivian researchers involved in a broader tiger cat study noticed its characteristics did not match descriptions based on Brazilian specimens. A routine blood sample led to DNA analysis that revealed Tigrino belonged to an entirely unknown species — a finding later confirmed by a second individual. In an unusual methodological step, the species description was based on a living, sedated animal rather than a dead specimen, as is conventional practice.
The research team, led in part by evolutionary biologist Jonas Lescroart of the University of Antwerp in Belgium, analysed genetic material from 38 cats across several South American countries, including eight museum specimens. The data revealed that tiger cats — long considered cryptic species, meaning they are nearly indistinguishable by physical appearance alone — actually comprise five genetically distinct species. The tilcayo lineage is estimated to have diverged from other tiger cats approximately 1.4 million years ago, a gap scientists consider sufficient for a species-level distinction. The team also identified a new subspecies in Peru's Yungas region, named Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo after Antisuyu, the zone of the old Inca empire that covered the area.
The discovery carries significant conservation implications. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently classifies tiger cats as two vulnerable species with declining populations, but will now review all five lineages separately. Assessed independently, the tilcayo could qualify as endangered. That urgency is heightened by mounting pressure on the Yungas ecosystem from deforestation, agricultural expansion, human-caused fires, and mining. The previous occasion on which a new cat species was described was in 1923, when the Uruguayan grass cat was formally identified.
"Showing the general public that even in a flagship group such as cats there are still new species to be discovered may transmit an important message," said Eduardo Eizirik, an evolutionary biologist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul and senior author of the study. "There are many undiscovered species out there in the world, and they are at risk of disappearing before we even discover them." Tigrino, now around ten years old, lives at the Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia, where he will remain until his natural death, after which his remains will be preserved in Bolivia's National Natural History Museum.