For the first time in 100 years, scientists have discovered the first new species of felid in Bolivia, naming it Leopardus tilcayo. National Geographic reports this, citing a study published in the journal Current Biology, according to UNN.
Details
The animal was brought to the Senda Verde reserve in Bolivia in 2016. A local man found the kitten near a forest and initially thought it was a domestic cat, but about a year later realized that it was a wild animal.
Biologist, scientist, and founder of the Bolivian Cat Research Program Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz noticed the cat’s unusual appearance. It was significantly smaller than an ordinary domestic cat, had long whiskers, short, rounded ears, and leopard-like spots.
I took a hundred photographs of it. I was so fascinated
According to available data, it became the first new species of the cat family discovered in more than 100 years.
What is interesting is that this discovery is not a confirmation of a species proposed in the distant past, nor of a previously recognized subspecies elevated to species status, which are more common and significant findings. No, this cat was something completely new to science
At first, the researcher thought it was Leopardus tigrinus, a species that was described as early as 1775. However, in 2019 she noticed that the rosettes on its fur differed from those of tiger cats in Brazil.
Together with geneticists from Brazil and Belgium, the scientist studied the animal’s genome. A comparison of the complete genomes of 38 representatives of the genus Leopardus showed that L. tilcayo is a separate species and diverged from other tiger cats about 1.4 million years ago.
It took several more years for Nogales-Ascarrunz to develop her genetic analysis skills to the point where she could study the genome of the mysterious cat with any degree of accuracy. Then, working with Eduardo Eizirik, a geneticist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and study co-author Jonas Lescroart of the University of Antwerp, the team was able to determine its distinct place on the cat family tree. In their paper, the researchers propose calling the cat Leopardus tilcayo ( Leopardova tilkayo ) after the word by which it is known to local residents
At the same time, very little is known about the lifestyle of the new felid species. The researchers note that the discovery could also affect the conservation of these animals, since after one species is divided into several separate populations, the populations must be assessed individually. At present, scientists do not know how many L. tilcayo tiger cats live in the wild.