Scientists discover new wild cat species in Bolivia for the first time in a century

Researchers say they have identified a new species of wild cat previously unknown to science, marking the first such discovery in about 100 years.

Leopardus tilcayo, known as the tilcayo tiger cat, is a small, slender and spotted feline that lives in the Bolivian Yungas. The discovery was published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

The species is smaller than a typical domestic cat and was first noticed by researcher Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz at the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary near La Paz.

“I saw this cat. It was really, really small, and I couldn’t believe how small it was. I thought it was a kitten,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said.

Genetic testing of tissue from from two animals found they belonged to the same unique species, which diverged from other tiger cat lineages around 1.4 million years ago.

Researchers said the animal had never previously been collected or documented scientifically.

“We didn’t have specimens in museums. It had never been collected before,” study co-author Tadeu de Oliveira said.

Scientists do not yet know how many tilcayo tiger cats remain in the wild. Researchers warned the species could face threats from habitat loss as agriculture and development expand.

Nogales-Ascarrunz said local Bolivian communities have known the cat as the tilcayo for generations.