For the first time in over 100 years, scientists have discovered a new species of cat through genetic analysis.
Leopardus tilcayo — the newly identified species — is a type of tiger cat that lives in Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forest region, per Scientific American. Tiger cats are a group of small spotted wild cats that are part of the genus Leopardus and are native to South America. The genetic analysis also revealed a subspecies of another species of tiger cat named Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo which is found in Peru.
The tilcayo cat was long known to local communities but has just been formally identified by scientists. Leopardus tilcayo is smaller than a house cat and spotted like a leopard with rounded ears.
Leopardus tilcayo was previously believed to be a northern tiger cat (Leopardus tigrinus), but it is a separate species. The last time a novel living cat species was discovered was in 1923 when the Uruguayan pampas cat (Leopardus fasciatus) was identified, per LiveScience.com.
The name is derived from what locals call the cat: “tilcayo.”
The species was identified in a paper published in Current Biology on Thursday. In the paper, researchers identified five distinct species of tiger cats in South America, including the tilcayo.
The study’s co-lead author Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz said the discovery of tilcayo came by accident, per NBC News. A man brought one of the cats into the sanctuary Nogales-Ascarrunz volunteered at and she noticed it didn’t quite match any of the known tiger cat species. She also added that she couldn’t believe how small the cat was and thought it was a kitten.
After a variety of genetic tests, Nogales-Ascarrunz and her team discovered that the cat had to be a new species that had likely diverged from its closest tiger cat relative around 1.4 million years ago.
According to Scientific American, the discovery of any new mammal — especially a cat — is very rare. It is even more uncommon to identify a whole new species and not just a variation of a known species.
It is unclear how many tilcayos are in the wild, but the authors say the study should be a catalyst for increasing conservation efforts for tiger cats. Scientists say that all five tiger cat species live in habitats that are vanishing quickly, per NBC News.
“Describing a new cat species after more than 100 years shows how much we still have to learn about the biodiversity around us. But it also reminds us that we need to protect the Yungas forests, which are home to so many species — including some we are only beginning to understand,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said in a statement, per Scientific American.
Tilcayo cats weigh between 3 and 4 pounds and can reach up to 20 inches without their tail; the tail adds about 10 inches, per LiveScience.com.