Genetic testing confirms a Bolivian cloud-forest cat long known to locals as the tilcayo is a distinct species, unseen by science since 1923.
Researchers published a study on Thursday, September 17, 2026, in the journal Current Biology formally describing Leopardus tilcayo, a small spotted wild cat native to Bolivia's Yungas cloud forests, marking the first time in more than a century that a new living cat species has been named and described, according to the Washington Post, Reuters and National Geographic.
How the Discovery Unfolded
View this post on Instagram
The investigation began after a wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia contacted researchers about a "weird cat" that did not match known domestic or wild feline species, National Geographic and a NatGeo social media post reported. An international team of mammalogists and geneticists then conducted genomic comparisons between the animal and known South American tiger cat populations. The analysis, according to an Italian-language report citing the study, showed the tilcayo split from its closest relatives roughly 1.4 million years ago, forming an independent evolutionary lineage rather than a variant of already-recognized species such as the oncilla or tigrina.
Physical Traits and Habitat
Leopardus tilcayo measures approximately 45 to 46 centimeters in body length and weighs about 1.3 to 1.4 kilograms, making it smaller than an average house cat, according to CNN, NBC News and the Times of India. It has a light brown coat covered in dark, asymmetrical rosettes resembling miniature jaguar markings, a slender body, a long thin tail and rounded ears, per NBC News and the Washington Post. The species inhabits the Yungas, a humid, cloud-covered forest zone on the eastern slopes of the Andes where the mountains meet the Amazon basin, Reuters and NBC News reported. The scientific name adopts "tilcayo," the term used by local communities for generations, National Geographic and Discover Wildlife noted.
Scientific Significance and Open Questions
The comparison outlets consistently draw is to the Uruguayan pampas cat, Leopardus fasciatus, described in 1923, which had stood as the last entirely new living felid species named by science. Discover Wildlife reported that only one specimen has so far been studied in detail, and researchers do not yet know the tilcayo's full population size or geographic range beyond the documented site in Bolivia's Nor Yungas province. Scientists say further fieldwork is needed to assess the species' distribution and conservation status amid ongoing pressures on cloud-forest habitats from deforestation and climate change.
