A 'Weird Cat' Rescued in Bolivia Turns Out to Be the First New Feline Species in Over 100 Years
The first new cat species discovered in 100 years
In 2016, a strange spotted cat was rescued near a Bolivian forest and brought to a wildlife sanctuary. Biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz photographed it, suspecting it was a known tiger cat. Years later, genomic analysis revealed it was a completely new species, Leopardus tilcayo, the first new felid discovered since 1923. The study also redraws the cat family tree, splitting tiger cats into five species and hinting at four distinct margay species, with major implications for conservation.
Our world is extremely complex. Sometimes we think that most of it is known, that there's not a whole lot to discover, but in fact, it's the other way around.
- autoexec
It's Leopardus tilcayo aka 'tilcayo tiger cat' and it's very cute. Wikipedia doesn't have a page dedicated to it yet.
Bonus pics:
https://www.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/SEI_...
https://media.zenfs.com/en/live_science_953/73a4cafd69e9e863...
https://media.zenfs.com/en/live_science_953/1fea354ba7a8db69...
https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/get/maximage/20260917_17896627...
- hatthew
> And they said, ‘I don’t know! My grandpa called it tilcayo, so I call it tilcayo.
I'm curious if the locals knew it was distinct from other similar species, e.g. Oncilla/L. tigrinus, or if tilcayo is the locals' name for a broader set of 2+ visually similar species?
- krige
Positively tiny. Really makes you wonder what else is still out there.
Also an amusing disjoint between it being called "tiger" cat but having leopard spots. At least the latin name is more on point.
- ChildOfChaos
Be careful, they are evolving, and everyone was worried that AI was taking over.
- hmokiguess
Awwwww pspspspsps kitty kitty ^_^
- dataflow
I don't understand how they're different species from others. By what definition of species are they different species, as opposed to (say) subspecies?
- 0x737368
Very good news that a new species was discovered that's not a microbe or a fungus!
- yegle
Desperately trying to find a video with the original meowing sound...