Researchers have identified a new wild cat species in Bolivia’s Yungas forest. Named Leopardus tilcayo, the animal is smaller than a house cat, weighing about 3 pounds and measuring 18 inches long. The discovery, announced in a study published in September 2026, marks the first new feline species described in over a century.
A chance encounter in Bolivia has expanded the known diversity of wild cat species for the first time in more than 100 years. The discovery centers on an animal found as a kitten on a road near a forest by a local man who initially brought it home believing it to be a domestic pet, as detailed by biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz. After a year, the owner turned the animal over to the Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary.
Nogales-Ascarrunz, founder of the Bolivian Felids Research Program and a National Geographic Explorer, visited the sanctuary to examine the unusual animal. She noted its small, scrunched-up face, short and round ears, long whiskers, and leopard-like spots. Nogales-Ascarrunz recalled being deeply fascinated by the creature, taking numerous photographs while initially assuming it belonged to the known species Leopardus tigrinus.
Genomic Analysis Reveals a Distinct Feline Lineage
Years after the initial sighting, while preparing a publication on Bolivia’s cat species, Nogales-Ascarrunz noticed that her photographs displayed rosettes much larger than reference photos from neighboring Brazil. That discrepancy prompted a multi-year effort involving genetic investigation.
Working alongside geneticist Eduardo Eizirik from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul and study co-lead author Jonas Lescroart from the University of Antwerp, Nogales-Ascarrunz analyzed the cat’s genome.
The findings were published in a scientific journal, establishing the new species under the scientific name Leopardus tilcayo. The researchers relied on DNA analysis drawn from historical museum specimens as well as samples from living animals to confirm the classification.
Honoring Local Knowledge and Naming the Tilcayo
The species name draws directly from the terminology used by residents in the region where the animal was found. When researchers asked local communities about the name, residents explained that the term had been passed down through generations without a specific translation in Spanish or Quechua.
“We asked the local people, ‘Why do you call it tilcayo?'” says Nogales-Ascarrunz, who is herself from Bolivia. “And they said, ‘I don’t know! My grandpa called it tilcayo, so I call it tilcayo.”
Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, biologist and National Geographic Explorer
Researchers chose to formalize that regional term to recognize the connection between the community and the wildlife. Nogales-Ascarrunz noted that adopting the local identifier served as a tribute to ancestral knowledge regarding the Yungas forest ecosystem.
Redrawing the Tiger Cat Family Tree
The description of Leopardus tilcayo alters the scientific understanding of small spotted cats, often referred to as tiger cats or oncillas, which were first documented scientifically in 1775. Over recent decades, genetic studies have progressively fractured what was long treated as a single widespread species into a complex of distinct lineages.
In 2013, researchers published evidence separating Leopardus tigrinus into two distinct species. That landscape shifted again in 2024 when Eizirik proposed establishing another genetically separate lineage, the clouded tiger cat. With the formal addition of Leopardus tilcayo, the tiger cat group now encompasses five recognized species.
“We’ve been working on tiger cats for 25 years or so, trying to sort out the whole genus, Leopardes. What we once thought to be a single species, we’ve started to see that it was actually a species complex.”
Eduardo Eizirik, geneticist at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul
Conservation Stakes and Unknowns in the Yungas Forest
While the genetic data successfully mapped the cat’s lineage, major gaps remain in understanding its day-to-day biology. Scientists have documented that the individual studied is a 10-year-old male residing at the Senda Verde Animal Refuge, but little is known about wild populations, dietary habits, reproductive cycles, or social structures.
Researchers are currently deploying camera traps in the Yungas cloud forest to determine how many individuals survive in the wild. At the same time, conservationists warn that the discovery highlights broader environmental risks in the region.
“Describing a new cat species after more than 100 years shows how much we still have to learn about the biodiversity around us. 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.”
Paola Nogales Ascarrunz, National Geographic Explorer and co-lead author
Deforestation and mining continue to fragment habitats across the eastern slopes of the Andes. Furthermore, researchers point out that as broader wild cat populations are divided into smaller, distinct species groups, the perceived population size for each individual category shrinks, placing tiger cat species in vulnerable conservation categories under international assessments.