A small spotted cat that spent about a year as a family pet in Bolivia has turned out to be a species new to science, the first new living wild cat species formally named in more than a century. In a peer-reviewed study of tiger cat genomes published in Current Biology on Sept. 17, researchers named it Leopardus tilcayo, keeping the name that communities in Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest already use for the animal. The last new living cat species described before it was the pampas cat, in 1923.

The discovery began with a mystery that took nearly a decade to solve. A local man found the animal as a kitten on a road near a forest and took it home, believing it was a domestic cat. After about a year, he realized it was wild and turned it over to a sanctuary, which described it to biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz as "a weird cat," National Geographic reported.

The find also carries conservation stakes. The Yungas, a band of cloud forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes, remain one of the least-studied regions in South America, and no one yet knows how many tilcayos live in the wild.

The Kitten That Did Not Fit the Guidebook

The sanctuary's call reached Nogales-Ascarrunz in 2017, according to National Geographic. She is a National Geographic Explorer and the founder of the Bolivian Felids Research Program. The animal was at Senda Verde, a refuge for trafficked wildlife on the subtropical flank of the Bolivian Andes. It had a small, scrunched-up face, short round ears, long whiskers and leopard-like spots, and it was too small to be a house cat.

At first, she assumed it was a northern tiger cat, Leopardus tigrinus. That species was described in 1775 from a single illustration of an animal seen in French Guiana and was long presumed to range across Central and South America.

The first real clue came in 2019. While preparing a booklet on Bolivia's cats, she noticed that her photos did not match a reference image from neighboring Brazil, because the Bolivian cat's rosettes were much larger. Several more years passed before she had the genetic skills to investigate the animal's genome. She then worked with geneticist Eduardo Eizirik of Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and co-lead author Jonas Lescroart of the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

The cat, a male now about 10 years old and nicknamed Tigrino, still lives at Senda Verde and serves as the species' type specimen, the individual that acts as its scientific reference. According to Live Science, descriptions of the species are based on two live individuals, Tigrino and one cat caught and photographed in the wild. They weigh about 3 to 4 pounds (1.5 to 2 kilograms) and measure up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) without the tail, which adds about 10 inches (25 centimeters).

Reading 1.4 Million Years in the Genome

Tiger cats are cryptic species, meaning they are hard to tell apart by appearance alone. In the 20th century, taxonomists lumped them into a single species. Scientists split them into northern and southern tiger cats in 2013, proposed the eastern tiger cat in 2017, and split off the clouded tiger cat in 2024.

The new study analyzed complete genomes from 38 cats, including eight museum specimens, with samples from Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela. The results confirmed four previously proposed tiger cat species, L. tigrinus, L. guttulus, L. emiliae and L. pardinoides, and named a fifth, L. tilcayo. The team also identified a new subspecies in Peru, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo.

The tilcayo lineage split from other tiger cats about 1.4 million years ago. National Geographic compared that separation to the one between modern lions and extinct cave lions.

Fabio Oliveira do Nascimento, a taxonomist at the University of São Paulo's Museum of Zoology who was not involved in the research, told Live Science that the tiger cat family tree had been "highly contentious and poorly understood." He said the new work resolves long-standing questions while raising new ones.

The evidence has limits. The genetic analysis is peer-reviewed and extensive, but the physical description rests on only two animals. Scientists do not yet know the species' range, population size, diet, or behavior. So far, it has been genetically confirmed only in Bolivia.

Some outside interpretations go further than the paper. James Sanderson, founder of the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation and a member of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, told National Geographic that the findings hint the margay could be four species rather than one. Eizirik said a dedicated margay study would be needed before making that claim. National Geographic also disclosed that the National Geographic Society funded Nogales-Ascarrunz's work.

A Cloud Forest Search for Wild Tilcayos

The naming choice reflects local knowledge. "It's our way of honoring their ancestral knowledge and connection to this animal," Nogales-Ascarrunz said of the name, according to PBS News. Residents told her the name came from their grandparents, and it does not appear to have a particular meaning in Spanish or Quechua.

Splitting one species into five changes the conservation math. The IUCN Red List currently classifies the northern and southern tiger cats as vulnerable, with decreasing populations. "Species that are currently considered 'vulnerable' under the single label of 'northern tiger cat' may increase to 'endangered' when assessed on their own," Lescroart told Live Science. Genomic data also point to long-term declines in most tiger cat lineages, with some populations reduced by as much as 80 percent from historical highs, Al Jazeera reported.

Tiger cats are threatened by deforestation, wildlife trafficking, and diseases spread by domestic dogs. "All of them are in habitats that are vanishing fast," study co-author Tadeu de Oliveira, an ecologist at the State University of Maranhão in Brazil, told NBC News.

The next phase is fieldwork. Nogales-Ascarrunz is installing camera traps in the Yungas to search for wild tilcayos. The goal is to estimate their range and numbers, the basic data needed to assess the species' conservation status. Tigrino's own history also highlights the pet-keeping risk: a wild cat that ended up in a sanctuary only after a family realized what it was.

For readers anywhere, the practical takeaway is simple. Wild kittens found on roadsides should be reported to wildlife authorities rather than raised at home, and travelers should avoid buying wild animals or wildlife products, which fuel the trafficking that threatens small cats.

The tilcayo's story is still being written. The species now exists formally in the scientific record, but its wild population remains unmeasured, and future assessments and camera-trap results will show how much protection it needs.

What Readers Want to Know

What is Leopardus tilcayo?

It is a small tiger cat from the Yungas cloud forest of Bolivia. Researchers named it in a Current Biology study published Sept. 17, 2026, and it is the first new living wild cat species formally described in more than a century.

How was it discovered?

A local man found it as a kitten on a road and kept it for about a year before giving it to the Senda Verde sanctuary. A biologist noticed that its markings did not match known tiger cats, and genome sequencing later confirmed it was a distinct species.

How big is it?

The two individuals described so far weigh about 3 to 4 pounds and measure up to 20 inches long without the tail, which makes them smaller than a typical house cat.

How long ago did it split from other tiger cats?

The genetic analysis puts the split at about 1.4 million years ago.

Is the tilcayo endangered?

Its status has not been assessed. Researchers say tiger cat lineages now need to be evaluated separately, and some populations currently counted as vulnerable could qualify as endangered.

What threatens it?

Tiger cats face deforestation, wildlife trafficking, and diseases spread by domestic dogs, and researchers say their habitats are disappearing quickly.

How are scientists finding wild tilcayos?

Researchers are installing camera traps in the Yungas to document wild individuals and estimate the species' range and population.