Tilcayo: The New Wild Cat Species Discovered in Bolivia

A new cat species has been discovered, and it was hiding in plain sight. The tilcayo, Leopardus tilcayo, is a small spotted wild cat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest. When scientists formally described it in September 2026, it became the first living cat species described since 1923.

How the Tilcayo Was Found

Biologist and National Geographic Society explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz first encountered the cat in 2017, after the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia contacted her about a cat that had been brought in. It looked like a tiger cat, one of South America's small spotted wild cats, but something didn't fit.

DNA Told the Real Story

A genetic analysis of 38 cats from South and Central America showed that the Bolivian cat was its own species. It looks so much like other tiger cats that scientists call it a cryptic species: you can't easily tell it apart by eye.

What Does the Tilcayo Look Like?

It's small, weighing about 1.5 to 2 kilograms, which is smaller than many house cats. Its light brown fur is covered in large, dark rosettes that are open or partly closed.

A Name Locals Already Knew

Science may have just named it, but local communities already knew this cat as the tilcayo. The scientific name honors that local knowledge.

What We Still Don't Know

The same study found that what scientists had treated as South America's tiger cats is really five separate species, and that the tilcayo's lineage split from its relatives about 1.4 million years ago.

Almost everything else is still a mystery. Nobody knows yet how many tilcayos exist, exactly what they eat, or how they live in the wild. Finding a new species is only the start.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the tilcayo?

The tilcayo, Leopardus tilcayo, is a small wild cat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest that was formally described as a new species in 2026.

Is the tilcayo really the first new cat in 100 years?

It's the first living cat species formally described since 1923, so roughly a century.

How big is a tilcayo?

About 1.5 to 2 kilograms, or roughly 3 to 4 pounds, smaller than many house cats.

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Sources

• Wikipedia: Tilcayo: description, size, discovery and range
• National Geographic: Meet the First New Cat Species Discovered in 100 Years: the 2026 description, five tiger cat species and its 1.4-million-year lineage
• PBS NewsHour: Meet Earth's Newest Wild Cat Species: first cat named since the pampas cat in 1923
• Wikipedia: Leopardus: the tiger cat group

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Cover photo: Paola Nogales Ascarrunz via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.