Loading…
A small spotted wild cat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forests was formally described as a new species, Leopardus tilcayo, in Current Biology on 17 September 2026.
It is the first new living cat species named in more than 100 years; genomic data show its lineage split from other tiger cats about 1.4 million years ago.
The study now recognises five genetically distinct tiger cat species and also named a new Peruvian subspecies, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo.
Genomic data show population declines of 60% or more in the tilcayo lineage.
The Yungas is a belt of humid montane and cloud forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes, running through Bolivia and Peru. It is a transition zone between the high Andes and the Amazon lowlands, which makes it one of South America's richest biodiversity zones.
The oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), the tiger cat group the tilcayo was split from, is listed in Appendix I, which bars commercial international trade. Illegal pet and pelt trade is a named threat to tiger cats.
Publishes the Red List; lists the oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) as Vulnerable. The tilcayo has not yet been assessed
GS Paper III > Environment > Biodiversity and conservation
General Awareness > Environment / Current Affairs
Tropical montane forest with persistent low cloud and mist, high humidity and dense epiphyte growth
Forested eastern slopes of the Andes in Bolivia and Peru, between the Andean highlands and the Amazon lowlands
Species that look alike but are genetically distinct and can only be separated by DNA analysis