Scientists announce Leopardus tilcayo, the first new wild cat species described in over a century
The cat family just got bigger. In a paper published in Current Biology, an international team led by Bolivian conservationist Paola Nogales Ascarrunz and including Eduardo Eizirik of Brazil's PUCRS formally described Leopardus tilcayo — the tilcayo cat — a small spotted wild cat from the Yungas cloud forest of Bolivia. It is the first living cat species new to science in more than 100 years.
Five key facts from the announcement
- The name. "Tilcayo" is the name local communities use for the cat — chosen, in the researchers' words, to honor "their ancestral knowledge and connection to this animal."
- The evidence. Genetic analysis of 38 cats from multiple South American countries — including 8 museum specimens, some a century old — proved the tiger cat group is at least five separate species.
- The deep split. The tilcayo lineage separated from other tiger cats roughly 1.4 million years ago, evolving in isolation in the Yungas.
- The animal. About 45–46 cm long and ≈1.4 kg — smaller than a house cat — with pale brown fur, large irregular rosettes, and a larger, more slender tail than its relatives.
- The surprise. The only known captive individual — a ten-year-old male at Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary — arrived as a surrendered pet around 2017, a decade before the species had a name.
Why it matters
"Describing a new cat species after more than 100 years shows how much we still have to learn about the biodiversity around us," Ascarrunz said — "but it also reminds us that we need to protect the Yungas forests, which are home to so many species, including some we are only beginning to understand."
The same paper formally describes four other tiger-cat species — L. guttulus, L. emiliae, L. pardinoides, L. tigrinus — plus a new Peruvian subspecies, L. tigrinus antisuyo. Conservation implications are immediate: the IUCN Red List has received the results for individual assessment of all five lineages at its next evaluation.
What we still don't know
The full extent of the species' range, its population size, mating system and arboreal habits all remain unpublished. Scat analysis points to small rodents as prey; camera-trap patterns suggest nocturnal activity. Ascarrunz is now deploying camera traps across the Yungas to document the species in the wild — a confirmed wild record would be the next milestone in this story.
Sources
- Species description: Current Biology (September 2026)
- BBC Wildlife Magazine: "New species of wild cat discovered in Bolivia's cloud forest" (Sept 17, 2026)
- New Scientist: "Beautiful new cat species is first to be named in a century"
- Asharq Al-Awsat and international wire coverage (Sept 18, 2026)
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