The 'Weird Kitten' Hiding in Plain Sight Turns Out to Be a New Species

A small spotted cat rescued as an orphan in Bolivia’s Yungas forest has helped scientists identify a new wild-cat species. Formally described as Leopardus tilcayo, the tiger cat was distinguished from close relatives through genetic research published in Current Biology.

The story began in 2017, when a local resident found an orphaned kitten in the Yungas and adopted it. By the following year, its unusual appearance had prompted a visit to Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary, whose staff contacted Bolivian felid specialist Dr Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz. They told her they had a “weird cat”; she drove about two and a half hours to see it.

The encounter did not settle the animal’s identity. Years later, Nogales-Ascarrunz noticed distinctive markings in photographs of the cat. An international team then combined genomic analyses of living animals with DNA from museum specimens to revisit the tiger-cat group, whose members can look strikingly similar.

The peer-reviewed study analysed complete genomes from 38 cats in the genus Leopardus, including 26 representatives of the tiger-cat complex. Researchers concluded that the complex contains five distinct species and described the Bolivian Yungas population as L. tilcayo. The paper also identifies a Peruvian Yungas subspecies, underscoring how modern genetic tools can reveal diversity that older classifications missed.

The name tilcayo reflects a term used by local communities for the cat. The researchers and science communicators describe visible differences from related tiger cats, including larger, more irregular spots and a relatively longer, less bushy tail. But the strongest evidence for its separate status comes from the genetic analysis, not appearance alone.

The finding is also a conservation question. Researchers say the species occurs in the wild, but its distribution, population size and habitat needs are not yet established. Only one individual is currently known in captivity, and conservationists say the priority is protecting wild populations and their habitat while field surveys establish how widespread the cat is.

For a species that escaped formal recognition despite centuries of natural-history collecting, the tilcayo’s identification is a reminder that biodiversity can remain overlooked in familiar groups. The next task is practical: find where it lives, estimate how many remain and ensure that recognition leads to effective protection.