{"id":2151611,"date":"2026-09-18T18:31:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2151611"},"modified":"2026-09-18T18:31:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:31:58","slug":"new-cat-species-discovered-in-bolivia-after-being-mistaken-for-a-kitten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2151611","title":{"rendered":"New Cat Species Discovered in Bolivia After Being Mistaken for a Kitten"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new breed of cat has been discovered for the first time in 100 years. <\/p>\n

Citing the journal Current Biology<\/u><\/a>, NBC News<\/u><\/a> reports that a new wild cat species dubbed leopardus tilcayo (or the tilcayo tiger cat) was discovered in the Bolivian Yungas. The exact size of this particular cat population in the wild remains unclear.<\/p>\n

The tilcayo tiger cat is smaller than the average house cat, has rounded ears, a slender build, and is spotted.<\/p>\n

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A new species of cat has been identified for the first time in a century\u2014and experts think that there may be even more to discover around the world: https:\/\/t.co\/woOXXxJOXB<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OX12m8wV3V<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 National Geographic (@NatGeo) September 17, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, the co-author of Current Biology\u2019s study, came upon the cat while volunteering for a wildlife rehabilitation center in Bolivia and thought it looked just different enough to warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cat had been brought in by a man living in a community in the forest near La Paz who had mistaken the cat for a domestic kitten, according to details recorded by the sanctuary,\u201d NBC reports. \u201cHe had fed the animal noodles, rice and eggs, only to realize it was wild and that he could not take care of it. So he brought it to the sanctuary.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was originally believed to have been a known species of wild cat, but Nogales-Ascarrunz conducted genetic testing that ultimately determined this was its own distinct cat species.<\/p>\n

While leopardus tilcayo may be a new discovery for researchers, its existence is old news to local peoples in Bolivia who have been aware of its existence for years.<\/p>\n

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Scientists have discovered a new species of cat for the first time in over a century.<\/p>\n

Smaller than an average housecat and covered in leopard-like spots, the cat species \u2014 proposed name Leopardus tilcayo \u2014 lives in Bolivia\u2019s Yungas forest ecoregion. Very little is known about\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/2dFDkgDzKi<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ABC News (@ABC) September 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThis cat, they call it tilcayo. And when you ask, \u2018Does it have some meaning in Quechua or Almyra and other Indigenous languages?\u2019 they say, \u2018No, my grandpa told me that\u2019s the tilcayo,\u2019\u201d Nogales-Ascarrunz said. \u201cThis is a traditional knowledge that they have in the community. We want to preserve that knowledge and we didn\u2019t want to give it another name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nogales-Ascarrunz\u2019s biggest concern about the little cat is preserving the species\u2019 existence. The five tiger cat species native to Central and South America exist in habitats where conservation is already imperiled by development and the expansion of agriculture.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

Get IGN’s Biggest Stories FIRST. Set Us as Your Source.<\/strong>\"Google\"Add Source<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

\n

A new breed of cat has been discovered for the first time in 100 years. <\/p>\n

Citing the journal Current Biology<\/u><\/a>, NBC News<\/u><\/a> reports that a new wild cat species dubbed leopardus tilcayo (or the tilcayo tiger cat) was discovered in the Bolivian Yungas. The exact size of this particular cat population in the wild remains unclear.<\/p>\n

The tilcayo tiger cat is smaller than the average house cat, has rounded ears, a slender build, and is spotted.<\/p>\n

\n

A new species of cat has been identified for the first time in a century\u2014and experts think that there may be even more to discover around the world: https:\/\/t.co\/woOXXxJOXB<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OX12m8wV3V<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 National Geographic (@NatGeo) September 17, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, the co-author of Current Biology\u2019s study, came upon the cat while volunteering for a wildlife rehabilitation center in Bolivia and thought it looked just different enough to warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cat had been brought in by a man living in a community in the forest near La Paz who had mistaken the cat for a domestic kitten, according to details recorded by the sanctuary,\u201d NBC reports. \u201cHe had fed the animal noodles, rice and eggs, only to realize it was wild and that he could not take care of it. So he brought it to the sanctuary.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was originally believed to have been a known species of wild cat, but Nogales-Ascarrunz conducted genetic testing that ultimately determined this was its own distinct cat species.<\/p>\n

While leopardus tilcayo may be a new discovery for researchers, its existence is old news to local peoples in Bolivia who have been aware of its existence for years.<\/p>\n

\n

Scientists have discovered a new species of cat for the first time in over a century.<\/p>\n

Smaller than an average housecat and covered in leopard-like spots, the cat species \u2014 proposed name Leopardus tilcayo \u2014 lives in Bolivia\u2019s Yungas forest ecoregion. Very little is known about\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/2dFDkgDzKi<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ABC News (@ABC) September 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThis cat, they call it tilcayo. And when you ask, \u2018Does it have some meaning in Quechua or Almyra and other Indigenous languages?\u2019 they say, \u2018No, my grandpa told me that\u2019s the tilcayo,\u2019\u201d Nogales-Ascarrunz said. \u201cThis is a traditional knowledge that they have in the community. We want to preserve that knowledge and we didn\u2019t want to give it another name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nogales-Ascarrunz\u2019s biggest concern about the little cat is preserving the species\u2019 existence. The five tiger cat species native to Central and South America exist in habitats where conservation is already imperiled by development and the expansion of agriculture.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new breed of cat has been discovered for the first time in 100 years. Citing the journal Current Biology, NBC News reports that a new wild cat species dubbed leopardus tilcayo (or the tilcayo tiger cat) was discovered in the Bolivian Yungas. The exact size of this particular cat population in the wild remains […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,243],"class_list":["post-2151611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-ign-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2151611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2151611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2151611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2151611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}