This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: There's a new cat in town, but this one won't curl up on your hamper, knead your sweaters or squeeze in front of your screen during a Zoom meeting. Scientists recently recognized Leopardus tilcayo, a dainty spotted feline native to Bolivia's cloud forests, as a distinct species of tiger cat, a group of small wild cats belonging to the ocelot lineage.
They also found that there are five species of tiger cats, and the tilcayo is one of them. And yes, the names are a mishmash of spots and stripes. Tiger cats belong to the Leopardus genus, but they are neither tigers nor leopards—though they do look like miniature versions of the latter.
The first new wild cat described in over a century, the tilcayo has a story that began with one family's unsuccessful attempt to turn what they thought was a kitten named Tigrino into a pet. The stray stuck to his wild ways, and the family eventually brought him to a wildlife sanctuary. Genetic tests that confirmed his lineage later explained why domestication was not in the cards for Tigrino.
How does this story fit into the larger evolutionary landscape? Northeastern marine and environmental studies professor Stephanie Eby and other experts shared their thoughts. "You see a zebra and a giraffe, and they look completely different," Eby said.
But this method doesn't always work with cats. They say all cats look the same in the dark, and the tilcayo and its close cousins are no different. Even in broad daylight, they all resemble "a bunch of little leopard-spotted cats," Eby explained.
Felines as a whole share a surprising number of physical traits, Jim Sanderson, founder and director of the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit, told Northeastern Global News. "Once nature reaches perfection, she only tweaks a little," he said. When animals look alike, scientists need a different way to determine where variation within one species ends and another begins.
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