Overview
- The peer‑reviewed study published Friday in Current Biology formally describes Leopardus tilcayo from the Bolivian Yungas as a distinct species and names a new Peruvian subspecies, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo.
- Researchers sequenced 38 whole genomes, including eight from historical museum specimens, and found the previously lumped tigercat group actually comprises five separate evolutionary lineages with L. tilcayo diverging about 1.4 million years ago.
- Leopardus tilcayo is a very small wildcat—about 45–46 cm long and ~1.4 kg—with light‑brown, rosette‑patterned fur and rounded ears, but scientists have complete genomic data for only two live individuals and a handful of camera‑trap records.
- Because the Yungas face deforestation, agriculture, mining and fires, the taxonomic split could raise extinction risk for small, localized lineages and researchers have shared results with the IUCN to prompt separate conservation assessments.
- Next steps called for by the authors include targeted field surveys, expanded camera trapping and genetic sampling to map range and population size, plus immediate habitat protection measures in Bolivian Yungas to clarify L. tilcayo’s status.