Shelter cat leads scientists to identify new wild species

A cat brought to a shelter in Bolivia has been identified as a previously unknown wild species, ERR reports. Scientists have proposed naming it Leopardus tilcayo, marking the first official naming and description of a living felid species in more than a century.

The story began 10 years ago when a local resident found a small kitten by a road at the edge of a forest and took it home. He tried to raise it as an ordinary pet, providing shelter, food and care, but after about a year he realised the clearly wild animal would be better off in a shelter.

The cat immediately attracted the attention of local biologist and National Geographic researcher Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz. It had a wrinkled face, short rounded ears and unusually long whiskers. It was considerably smaller than an adult domestic cat and weighed only a fraction as much. The biologist was particularly struck by the leopard-like spots covering its tiny body.

Nogales-Ascarrunz initially believed the animal was a known species, the oncilla, or Leopardus tigrinus. Naturalists first described that species in 1775 based on a drawing made in French Guiana. Biologists had long believed the spotted cat lived widely across Central and South America, and Bolivia’s lush forests appeared to fit its known habitat.

A turning point came five years later, while Nogales-Ascarrunz was preparing a comprehensive guide to Bolivia’s cat species. Looking at photographs in a guide to neighbouring Brazil, she noticed that the shelter cat’s coat patterns were markedly larger than those of the Brazilian animals.

The difference visible to the naked eye led scientists to ask whether the cat represented more than a regional variation. Visual observations alone were not enough, however, and the question required years of work by specialists using modern genomic analysis.

In a study published in the journal Current Biology, the researchers have now formally proposed the name Leopardus tilcayo. The name honours local people who have known the cat by that name for generations.

Scientists say the animal is not a long-proposed species that has merely been confirmed, but something entirely new to science. The discovery significantly changes the known evolutionary tree of felids.

Small wild cats have historically received far less scientific study than large, well-known predators. The tiny animals are highly skilled at remaining hidden in the wild, while images from remotely operated trail cameras often provide too little evidence to distinguish between species.