Researchers have identified a new feline species living in Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest, marking the first formally named feline species to be discovered in over a century. The animal, called the tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo) by local communities, is exceptionally small, measuring just 18 inches long and weighing around 1.4 kilograms, and genetic analysis has confirmed it as a previously unknown species. The discovery is significant because it reveals that tiger cats—a group of small South American felines—comprise five genetically distinct species rather than the two currently recognised by conservation authorities.

The research team analysed DNA from 38 cats across South America, including eight museum specimens, finding that the tilcayo's lineage diverged from other tiger cats approximately 1.4 million years ago. Scientists have extremely limited information about the species, having studied only two living individuals and gathered observations from camera traps; one specimen is a ten-year-old male now housed at a Bolivian wildlife sanctuary. Tiger cats are classified as "cryptic species," meaning they are difficult to distinguish by appearance alone. The findings will be shared with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which may reconsider each lineage separately, potentially revealing that individual species face greater extinction risk than previously thought. Bolivia's Yungas forests face mounting pressure from deforestation, agricultural expansion, fires and mining.