Scientists identify first new cat species in 100+ years in Bolivia's cloud forests

In the cloud forests of Bolivia, where mist clings to the mountainsides and humidity hangs thick in the air, a small wild cat has been living unrecognized by science for centuries. Now researchers have formally identified it as a species entirely new to the scientific record—the first living feline species to receive an official name and description in more than a hundred years.

The animal, known locally as the tilcayo, is a member of the tiger cat family, a group of small spotted felines scattered across South America. It measures just 46 centimeters from nose to tail and weighs approximately 1.4 kilograms, making it smaller than most house cats. Its coat is light brown, marked with irregularly shaped rosettes—the distinctive spotted pattern that gives tiger cats their name. The species has been formally designated Leopardus tilcayo in scientific literature.

The discovery emerged from a puzzle. Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National Geographic Explorer and lead author of the study published in Current Biology, noticed that the Bolivian cats did not match the descriptions of tiger cats documented elsewhere, particularly those from Brazil. That mismatch prompted a fundamental question: what tiger cat actually lived in Bolivia? To answer it, the research team analyzed DNA from 38 individual cats sampled across several South American countries, including eight preserved museum specimens. The genetic work revealed something unexpected—what scientists had long treated as a single tiger cat species was in fact five genetically distinct species. The Bolivian tilcayo's lineage had diverged from its closest relatives approximately 1.4 million years ago.

Jonas Lescroart, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Antwerp and co-lead author of the study, expressed surprise at the finding. "We never expected this Bolivian tiger cat to be a separate species, and no one had ever proposed it as a different animal, subspecies or otherwise," he said. Tiger cats belong to a category scientists call cryptic species—animals so similar in appearance that they cannot be reliably distinguished by sight alone. This cryptic nature explains how the tilcayo remained unidentified for so long, hiding in plain sight across the Yungas forest region, a mountainous area where cloud cover and high humidity create a distinct ecological zone.

Little is currently known about the tilcayo's behavior and ecology. Evidence from scat samples suggests small rodents form part of its diet. Camera-trap footage indicates the animal may be primarily nocturnal, active during the night hours when it would be less visible to observers. Beyond these fragments, the species remains largely mysterious—a reminder that even in an age of genetic sequencing and satellite imagery, the natural world still holds secrets.

The research team also identified a second previously unrecognized tiger cat subspecies in Peru's Yungas region, naming it Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo after Antisuyu, the region of the ancient Inca Empire that encompassed the area where it lives. The dual discoveries underscore how much remains unknown about the biodiversity of South America's cloud forests, and how genetic tools are now revealing complexity that traditional taxonomy had obscured. The tilcayo's formal recognition opens a new chapter in feline science, one that will likely prompt further investigation into the behavior, range, and conservation needs of this newly named species.