Tilcayo, a newly identified cat species. [Reuters/Yonhap]
Tilcayo, a newly identified cat species. [Reuters/Yonhap]

A new wild cat species has been discovered in the Andean forests of Bolivia — the first such find in a century.

A research team led by Eduardo Eizirik, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, confirmed that a wild cat found in Bolivia's Yungas forest belongs to a new species within the tigrina lineage, according to the university Friday. The findings were published in the international journal Current Biology. The species has been given the scientific name Leopardus tilcayo.

The animal was first spotted by a local resident who found it in the forest and initially mistook it for an ordinary house cat. After keeping it for a year, the resident noticed behavioral differences and brought it to an animal shelter. Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a professor at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in Bolivia who was volunteering at the shelter at the time, recognized the animal's unusual appearance and began investigating.

The tilcayo measures about 46 centimeters in length and weighs 1.4 kilograms, with grayish-brown fur marked by leopard-like spots. Researchers compared DNA from eight museum specimens and 30 wild cats collected across various regions of South America, confirming that the tilcayo is genetically distinct from known tigrina species.

The tilcayo lineage is estimated to have diverged from a group that includes the northern tigrina and the clouded tigrina approximately 1.4 million years ago. The Andes' high mountain ranges, deep valleys and rivers likely blocked population movement over time, driving their evolution into separate species.

Tigrinas are found throughout South America, but their similar appearances and nocturnal habits have long made it difficult to distinguish between species. Most were once grouped under a single species, the northern tigrina, but advances in DNA analysis in recent years have led to the recognition of the southern tigrina, the eastern tigrina and the clouded tigrina as distinct species. The addition of the tilcayo further underscores that diversity within the tigrina lineage is greater than previously thought.

The researchers said the discovery highlights the need to protect South American forests. The Yungas forest has been rapidly degraded by deforestation, agricultural expansion, wildfires and mining. "It is urgent to protect the remaining old-growth forests and maintain connectivity between forest patches," the team said.


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