Bolivia’s Tiny Wild Cat Mistaken For A House Pet Turns Out To Be A New Species

A tiny wild cat from Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests has been identified as Leopardus tilcayo, or the tilcayo tiger cat, a distinct species previously mistaken for other felines. The discovery began with a kitten found beside a forest road and initially raised as a domestic pet. Genetic research later confirmed it belonged to a separate species that diverged from its closest relatives around 1.4 million years ago. Weighing roughly 3 pounds, the tilcayo is smaller than an average house cat. Only two individuals have been closely studied, leaving its population, behavior and conservation status largely unknown to researchers today.