Cats have been with humanity for about 10,000 years, in a relationship that, it is believed, began to be forged by mutual benefit: by saving crops, humans attracted rodents, and these attracted feral cats, which found easier prey. So when we say that cats and humans have been together all their lives, it is not an exaggeration. And yet, felines continue to amaze us and not only because of their behavior: there are still species to be discovered.
The cat you see illustrating this article in the cover photo has leopard-like markings, is smaller than a domestic one and turns out to be a species unknown to science until a few weeks ago: it’s called Leopardus tilcayo and, according to the research team that discovered it, the first living species of cat to be described and named in more than 10 years.
doubt. Actually the story is long, long ago. In 2016, Bolivian biologist and National Geographic Explorer Paula Nogales-Ascarunz got a call from the Senda Verde Sanctuary: they had found “a rare cat.” It was so similar to a domestic cat that people living in the area mistook it for one. He first thought it was a tiger cat, a group of small American cats, but nothing added up. In 2019, while reviewing his photos, he noticed that the rosettes were too large.
discovery. This cat bird measures 46 cm long, weighs about 1.4 kg and, as the biologist says, “its fur is light brown… it has irregularly shaped rosettes all over its body.” Its characteristics did not match existing descriptions, almost all of which were based on Brazilian cats. It has only been identified in Bolivia and little is known about its biology: remains of small rodents in faeces suggest they are part of its diet, and camera traps indicate it may be more active at night.
Jonas Lescroart, another author of the study, explained that “we never expected this Bolivian tiger cat to be a different species, and no one proposed it as a different animal, subspecies or otherwise.” And yet it is: genetic analyzes suggest that its lineage diverged from other tiger cats about 1.4 million years ago.
What does the tiger cat hide?. nominal species, Leopardus tigrinusAn animal from French Guiana was described from a single image and its taxonomy was pending for centuries. The team analyzed 38 complete genomes of leopardus species, including 26 from the tiger cat complex and some from museum specimens, and got a surprise: They expected two, three or four species, and five came out. They describe a new subspecies in Peru, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo.
Why is it important?. It’s a reminder that there are still large vertebrates to describe at this point in the film, and many go unnoticed because they look like others. But isolating species makes it possible to better assess their risk: According to Lescroart, species like the tilcayo could be considered endangered if assessed separately.
Genetics also points to a problem: Almost all tiger cats have been losing populations for thousands of years, and some breeds, including the Tilkayo, have declined by 60% or more. Added to this are current threats to its habitat: deforestation, agricultural expansion, man-made fires and mining.
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cover Paula Nogales retouching with Ascarunze, Gemini
