A new wild cat species has been formally identified in Bolivia for the first time in more than 100 years.

Image Credit: Current Biology

Scientists have confirmed that a small spotty cat species discovered in cloud forests of Bolivia is new to science.

This new cat species is called Leopardus tilcayo or the Tilcayo tiger cat.

It all started in 2016 when a man found a kitten along the forest road and brought it home, thinking it was a house cat. A year later it reached Senda Verde wildlife refuge in Bolivia.

Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a biologist who examined the cat, noticed that it was quite different from tiger cats already in science. She took its pictures and initiated her investigation. Eventually, geneticists studied the whole genomes of 38 cats belonging to Leopardus genus, including 8 museum specimens.

The genetic analysis confirmed that this Bolivian cat was separate. It was estimated that the Leopardus tilcayo species branched from other tiger cat species around 1.4 million years ago. Also, the research revealed that the genus that used to be called tiger cats actually consists of 5 different species.

The Tilcayo is very small, measuring approximately 42.5 to 50.5 centimetres and weighing about 1.4 kilograms. It has a light brown colour with irregular dark spots, short rounded ears, and long whiskers.

Scientists have only found one Tilcayo cat in human care so far, and they don't yet know how many are living in the wild or where their full habitat is.

Reference:

Lescroart et al. (2026), Current Biology, published September 17, 2026. “Phylogenomics and museomics reveal five distinct species of tiger cats in South America.”
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.059.