Tiny Cloud Forest Cat Stuns Scientists With Secret Identity

A tiny wild cat hiding in Bolivia's misty mountains has just been recognized as a brand new species. Scientists haven't named a living cat species in over a hundred years. This little feline weighs only three pounds and stretches about eighteen inches long. That makes it smaller than most house cats. Local people call it Tilcayo. Researchers gave it the scientific name Leopardus tilcayo to honor that name.

The cat lives in the Yungas cloud forest where clouds hug the trees and humidity stays high. Its coat shows light brown fur marked with odd shaped rosettes. Nobody knows much about how it lives yet. Droppings suggest it eats small rodents. Camera traps hint it prowls mostly at night. Only two live cats have been studied up close. One ten year old male now lives in a wildlife sanctuary after a family kept him at home.

Genetic testing changed everything scientists thought about tiger cats. These cats look so alike that experts couldn't tell them apart by sight alone. For a long time they were considered one single species. DNA from thirty eight cats across South America revealed five separate species instead. The Tilcayo line split from its cousins roughly one point four million years ago. That gap in DNA usually means a full species divide in cats. A new subspecies in Peru got named too.

Conservation groups currently list tiger cats as just two vulnerable species. The new findings could change that status dramatically. Each of the five lineages might face different risks. The Yungas forest where Tilcayo lives faces heavy pressure. Logging, farming, fires and mining all eat away at its home. Researchers have shared their data with the international conservation body. A fresh review will judge each lineage on its own merits. The Tilcayo could end up labeled endangered.

Many questions remain unanswered. Scientists have only a handful of camera trap photos and two live animals to study. They still don't know the cat's full range or social habits. More research will be needed to understand this secretive predator. Protecting its shrinking habitat looks like the most urgent task right now.