Overview
- Researchers published a peer-reviewed description of Leopardus tilcayo based on a live-captured male from near Arapata, La Paz, and additional specimens and images supplied by field teams.
- The cat is a small tigercat with a body length of about 42.5–50.5 cm, a 25–26.5 cm tail, light-brown fur and large, irregular dark spots that give it a leoparded appearance.
- Genome-wide analyses included multiple Leopardus genomes and indicate the Tilcayo lineage diverged from its closest relatives around 1.4 million years ago in the early Pleistocene.
- Conservationists and the authors warn the species occupies Bolivian Yungas montane forest that faces deforestation, agriculture, fires and mining, and they say each tigercat must now be assessed and protected separately.
- Researchers say urgent next steps are field studies of the Tilcayo’s range, population size and ecology and formal risk assessments such as IUCN evaluation to guide protections for local communities and habitat managers.