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| Leopardus tilcayo Nogales-Ascarrunz, Aliaga-Rossel, Lescroart & Eizirik, in Lescroart, Nogales-Ascarrunz, Cassatt-Johnstone, Bonilla-Sánchez, ... et Eizirik, 2026. |
Highlights:
• First discovery of a novel cat species in over a century: Leopardus tilcayo
• Description of a novel cat subspecies: Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo
• Phylogenomic resolution of the tiger cat complex, revealing five distinct species
• Museomics and novel approaches to assess evolutionary history and genomic diversity
Summary
The evolutionary history of elusive organisms can be characterized through genomic analyses, which have the power to reveal previously unknown taxa even in groups assumed to be well studied, such as cats. We have analyzed complete genomes of 38 individuals from the Neotropical cat genus Leopardus, including 26 individuals representing multiple evolutionary units of the contentious tiger cat (Leopardus tigrinus) species complex. Eight genomes were generated from museum specimens, which allowed the first genetic assessment of the type locality for L. tigrinus in the Guiana Shield. We found that this complex comprises five distinct species, including a novel cat species, discovered in the Bolivian Yungas and described in this study as L. tilcayo. The Peruvian Yungas unit of this complex also represents a distinct taxonomic entity, which we describe here as a novel subspecies, L. tigrinus antisuyo. Our phylogenomic analyses resolve the evolutionary relationships among the tiger cat geographic units, thus stabilizing their recalcitrant taxonomy and enabling adequate conservation assessment of these threatened felids. We also address other aspects of their evolution, including biogeography, past episodes of interspecies admixture, demographic history of each taxonomic unit, and temporal changes in genetic diversity. Altogether, our results clarify the evolutionary history of a complex radiation of wild cats, reveal novel taxa, and serve as a basis for conservation planning on behalf of these elusive wild cats.
Keywords: Bolivian Yungas, Peruvian Yungas, Felidae, Guiana Shield, historic DNA, Leopardus, museomics, concordance vector, new species, tilcayo
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| Live specimen of Leopardus tilcayo (sample ID: L. tilcayo BOl-2, voucher ID: MNHN-L2), a newly described tiger cat species from the Bolivian Yungas. Photo by Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz |
Family Felidae Batsch, 1788
Subfamily Felinae Batsch, 1788
Leopardus Gray, 1842
Leopardus tilcayo sp. nov. Nogales-Ascarrunz, Aliaga-Rossel, Lescroart & Eizirik
Type material: Holotype: CBF-11990, adult male. Live-captured and held in captivity, genome sequences NCBI SRA accession SRX30196846. Date: 09-2021; collectors: E. Aliaga-Rosel and P. Nogales-Ascarrunz (see Data S1).
Type locality: La Paz, Nor Yungas, near Arapata village (1,570 m above sea level [a.s.l.]), Bolivia. Coordinates: −16.248594, −67.634691 (WGS84).
Etymology: This species is named after the local name “tilcayo” used for this felid, which is widely known in the Bolivian Yungas zone. The name is treated as an unchanged noun in apposition.
Vernacular name: We propose “tilcayo” as the English common name, preserving the traditional local designation in recognition of its cultural and regional relevance.
Diagnosis: Leopardus tilcayo differs from L. pardinoides by its shorter pelage, lower contrast pattern, more expanded and irregular open rosettes, less bushy tail, and the absence of broad and complete caudal bands (see Data S1). It differs from L. tigrinus by its larger and more irregular flank markings, longer and fuller tail, and irregular caudal blotches. It differs from L. guttulus by its larger, more heterogeneous markings, lower dorsal contrast, and relatively longer tail. L. tilcayo can be distinguished from other Leopardus taxa by a large number of molecular characters. In the nuclear genome, among the 29,288,951 transversion variants, on average 1,392,646 sites differentiate L. tilcayo from L. t. antisuyo and 1,491,301 sites differentiate L. tilcayo from L. pardinoides. For simplicity we provide a list of diagnostic mitochondrial DNA sites (see Data S1).
Jonas Lescroart, Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, Alejandra Bonilla-Sánchez, Caroline Charão Sartor, Fernando Angulo, Jorge L. Ramirez, Larissa Rosa de Oliveira, Tadeu Gomes de Oliveira, Beth Shapiro, Enzo Aliaga-Rossel, Hannes Svardal and Eduardo Eizirik. 2026. Phylogenomics and Museomics reveal Five distinct Species of Tiger Cats in South America. Current Biology. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.059 [September 17, 2026]
