Scientists have formally described a previously unrecognized wild cat from Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests, naming the species Leopardus tilcayo. The finding, published on September 17 in Current Biology, marks the first time in more than a century that researchers have named a new living species in the cat family.
The tiny spotted feline is part of the South American tiger-cat group. Researchers say it is smaller than a typical domestic cat, measuring roughly 45 to 46 centimeters from head to body and weighing about 1.4 kilograms. Its light-brown coat is covered with dark, irregular rosettes, a pattern that helped raise early suspicions that the animal did not fit neatly within existing tiger-cat classifications.
A mystery cat in Bolivia’s Yungas
The story began with an animal brought to the Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia’s Yungas region after a local family had initially mistaken it for a domestic cat. Bolivian biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz later noticed that its markings and proportions did not match reference images of other tiger cats.
That observation eventually led to a broader genetic investigation. The international research team analyzed complete genomes from 38 individuals across the Leopardus genus, combining samples from living animals with historical museum specimens. The genomic evidence placed the Bolivian cat on its own evolutionary branch and indicated that its lineage diverged from related tiger cats roughly 1.4 million years ago.
The scientists kept the local name “tilcayo” in the species’ scientific name, recognizing the term used by communities in the region long before the animal received a formal taxonomic description.
Study reshapes the tiger-cat family tree
The research goes beyond naming one new species. It concludes that South America’s tiger cats represent five distinct species rather than a much simpler grouping used in the past. The paper also describes a new Peruvian subspecies, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo.
Researchers say modern genomics is helping reveal hidden diversity among small wild cats that can look extremely similar in photographs or in the field. That matters for conservation because animals treated as one widespread species may actually consist of several smaller, geographically restricted populations facing very different levels of risk.
Conservation questions remain
Very little is known about Leopardus tilcayo in the wild. Scientists currently have direct information from only a small number of individuals and camera-trap records. Early evidence suggests the cat may be mostly nocturnal, while remains found in scat indicate that small rodents are among its prey.
Its known habitat, the humid Yungas forests on the eastern slopes of the Andes, is under pressure from deforestation, agricultural expansion, fires and mining. Researchers say the new taxonomic classification should allow conservation groups to assess the tilcayo separately rather than folding it into a broader tiger-cat category.
The discovery also underscores how much remains unknown even within charismatic and relatively well-studied groups such as wild cats. The study was published in Current Biology under DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.059, with the finding independently reported by Reuters and National Geographic.
