New wild cat species discovered in Bolivia by Brazilian biologist
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Brazilian biologist Eduardo Eizirik, leading an international team, discovered a new species of wild cat in the Yungas forests of Bolivia.
The cat, scientifically named Leopardus tilcayo, resembles a miniature tiger with light brown fur covered in dark spots. It averages 46 centimeters in length and weighs only 1.4 kilograms, making it smaller than many domestic cats.
The discovery, published in Current Biology, marks the first time in over a century that a previously unknown feline species has received a formal scientific description. A young male cat named Tigrino, rescued in 2016, proved crucial to the research. A family initially took Tigrino in as a pet before transferring him to the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia. Genetic analysis revealed Tigrino belonged to a distinct lineage that separated from other wild cats around 1.4 million years ago.
He now serves as the official reference specimen, the holótype, for the new species. Scientists analyzed the complete genomes of 38 felines from across South America, including museum specimens, and found that cats previously grouped together actually represent five genetically different species. The study also identified a new subspecies in Peru, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo.
