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Scientists have discovered a new species of wildcat. It is the first time in more than a century.
The tilcayo tiger cat is a small feline. It has a spotted coat like a leopard. It was found in the Yungas region of Bolivia.
Locals saw the creature. They thought it was an ordinary house cat, said Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz.
She is a biologist and National Geographic explorer. She was part of the research team that studied the cat.
The nickname “tilcayo” was given to the animal by locals. It inspired its new scientific name: Leopardus tilcayo.
Nogales-Ascarrunz called the discovery “a remarkable event.” This is because a new wildcat species hasn’t been described in 100 years.
The cat is the first new feline discovered since 1923. That is when scientists spotted the pampas cat in Uruguay.
The tilcayo is slightly smaller than a domestic cat. It measures around 45 centimetres. It also has rounded ears (see graphic).
A pair of tilcayos have undergone genetic testing, Nogales-Ascarrunz said. They are the only tilcayo cats discovered so far.
A male tilcayo is living at an animal shelter in Yungas. It was handed over by a family who had taken him in. A female was rescued and released into the wild. She had been attacked by locals.
Scientists began studying the animals in 2021. Research on the species was published last month in the journal Current Biology.
“So far, [the tilcayo] has only been detected in Bolivia,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said. It has not been seen anywhere else on the planet.
She said tilcayo cats are classified as “vulnerable to extinction”. Their small numbers mean they could soon be considered “at much greater risk” of dying out.
