Scientists Find First New Cat in a Century

A local resident found the cat near the forest and, believing it was a domestic kitten, kept it at home, but it did not behave like a pet and was eventually handed over to the Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary. There, the Bolivian biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz noticed that its features did not match descriptions of tiger cats, small spotted felines found across much of South America that are hard to tell apart by appearance. Working with researchers in Brazil and Belgium, she analysed DNA from 38 cats, including eight museum specimens, and concluded that tiger cats comprise five genetically distinct species rather than the smaller number previously recognised. According to the study's co-lead author, Jonas Lescroart of the University of Antwerp, the tilcayo lineage split from its relatives around 1.4 million years ago.

Much about the species remains a mystery. Eduardo Eizirik, a geneticist in Brazil on the study team, told the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) that with so few records or photographs and no museum specimen, the cat "was hiding because nobody was looking". The researchers' knowledge rests on just two live animals they examined and a handful of camera-trap records, and the BBC reports that only one living member is confirmed: a 10-year-old male, nicknamed Tigrino, who lives at the sanctuary. Researchers believe others survive in the wild, where scat samples suggest they eat small rodents and camera traps suggest they may be more active at night. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which currently lists tiger cats as two vulnerable species, is expected to assess the five lineages separately, and the tilcayo could be classed as endangered. The researchers warn that deforestation, farming, fires and mining are putting growing pressure on the Yungas.