Home · Science · Sep 17 archive
New Wild Cat Species Discovered in Bolivia After Over 100 Years
Confirmed
In Short: Biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz and her team identified Leopardus tilcayo, a new species of wild cat.
Biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz and her team identified Leopardus tilcayo, a new species of wild cat, after years of research. The discovery marks the first new living feline species identified by scientists in over a century.
In 2016, Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National Geographic Explorer, received a call from a local wildlife sanctuary about a cat with leopard-like spots. She initially thought it was a member of the species Leopardus tigrinus, but further examination revealed it was a distinct species.
The team analyzed complete genomes from 38 individuals representing the Leopardus genus, confirming that L. tilcayo is genetically distinct from other tiger cat species. The cat, known locally as the tilcayo cat, is native to Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest.
Nogales-Ascarrunz explained that the name 'Tilcayo' was chosen based on the local communities' term for the cat. She noted that the discovery highlights the importance of conservation efforts for smaller, less charismatic species.
The new species, weighing no more than 3 pounds and approximately 18 inches long, is smaller than a typical house cat. Nogales-Ascarrunz emphasized that the attention garnered by the discovery could shift focus to the conservation of smaller, more elusive felines.
What's confirmed
- Biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz and her team identified Leopardus tilcayo, a new species of wild cat, after years of research. The discovery marks the first new living feline species identified by scientists in over a century.
- In 2016, Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National Geographic Explorer, received a call from a local wildlife sanctuary about a cat with leopard-like spots. She initially thought it was a member of the species Leopardus tigrinus, but further examination revealed it was a distinct species.
- The team analyzed complete genomes from 38 individuals representing the Leopardus genus, confirming that L. tilcayo is genetically distinct from other tiger cat species. The cat, known locally as the tilcayo cat, is native to Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest.
- Nogales-Ascarrunz explained that the name 'Tilcayo' was chosen based on the local communities' term for the cat. She noted that the discovery highlights the importance of conservation efforts for smaller, less charismatic species.
- The new species, weighing no more than 3 pounds and approximately 18 inches long, is smaller than a typical house cat. Nogales-Ascarrunz emphasized that the attention garnered by the discovery could shift focus to the conservation of smaller, more elusive felines.
What's still developing
- At the time, the biologist assumed the unusual cat was a member of the species Leopardus tigrinus, or little spotted cats, which are native to the tropical and montane forests of Central and South America.
- She never could have predicted that she was looking at the first new species of cat discovered in over 100 years.
- According to Nogales-Ascarrunz, who herself is from Bolivia, the name does not appear to mean anything particular in Spanish or the Quechua language.
- “Describing a new cat species after more than 100 years shows how much we still have to learn about the biodiversity around us,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said.
- You may also like : Scientists discovered thousands of new species in 2025.
- And now, ten years after she first set eyes on the cat, she and her team have officially concluded that it is a new species unto itself.
- When they are not controlled... they start destroying this ecosystem", explains Nogales Ascarrunz. With the media attention worldwide and locally in Bolivia surrounding the discovery, Nogales Ascarrunz said she finds the attention promising to conservation efforts. She is also seeing the interest shift from larger "majestic" cats to the smaller more elusive felines. "I like to say.... that we always think about big discoveries", Nogales Ascarrunz added. "But maybe these new things are just around us... now with Tilcayo, we have one more reason to conserve this beautiful world.
- For a year, a "kitten" with leopard-like spots was kept as a pet by a local family, but was later brought to the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary after they recognized it to be a wild animal.