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| Leopardus narinensis, Ruiz-García, 2023 (A–C) Different views of the new species Leopardus narinensis, Ruiz-García, 2023. Its morphology and its mitochondrial and nuclear microsatellite DNA do not coincide with that of any known species of the Leopardus genus in Latin America. (Photos Manuel Ruiz-García). (D) Comparison of the Nariño cat (right) with an individual of tigrina (from the Caquetá Department in Colombia) with a larger range in the northern Andes and with similar mitochondrial haplotypes to those of margays and ocelots (left) (Photo Manuel Ruiz-García).Central American and trans-Andean tigrinas: (E) One of the tigrinas sampled in Costa Rica (Photo José González-Maya), and (F) A tigrina analyzed from Intag (Imbabura Province, Ecuador) that had a phenotype very similar to the Costa Rican tigrinas that were analyzed and shown in the previous photo. Both tigrinas were molecularly confirmed as well-defined tigrina taxa or lineages. (Photo Manuel Ruiz-García). in Ruiz-García, Pinedo-Castro et Shostell, 2023. |
Abstract
In 1989, a skin of a small spotted cat, from the Galeras Volcano in southern Colombia (Nariño Department), was donated to the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt (identification, ID 5857) at Villa de Leyva (Boyacá Department, Colombia). Although originally classified as Leopardus tigrinus, its distinctiveness merits a new taxonomic designation. The skin is distinct from all known L. tigrinus holotypes as well as from other Leopardus species. Analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes from 44 felid specimens (including 18 L. tigrinus and all the current known species of the genus Leopardus), the mtND5 gene from 84 felid specimens (including 30 L. tigrinus and all the species of the genus Leopardus), and six nuclear DNA microsatellites (113 felid specimens of all the current known species of the genus Leopardus) indicate that this specimen does not belong to any previously recognized Leopardus taxon. The mtND5 gene suggests this new lineage (the Nariño cat as we name it) is a sister taxon of Leopardus colocola. The mitogenomic and nuclear DNA microsatellite analyses suggest that this new lineage is the sister taxon to a clade formed by Central American and trans-Andean L. tigrinus + (Leopardus geoffroyi + Leopardus guigna). The temporal split between the ancestor of this new possible species and the most recent ancestor within Leopardus was dated to 1.2–1.9 million years ago. We consider that this new unique lineage is a new species, and we propose the scientific name Leopardus narinensis.
Keywords: Colombia; Leopardus narinensis; mitogenomes; Nariño cat; new neotropical wild cat; nuclear markers
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| The Nariño cat found at the Galeras Volcano in the Nariño Department from the southern Colombian Andes and aspect of other specimens of other tigrinas from different regions of the Neotropics. (A–C) Different views of the new species Leopardus narinensis, Ruiz-García, 2018. Its morphology and its mitochondrial and nuclear microsatellite DNA do not coincide with that of any known species of the Leopardus genus in Latin America. (Photos Manuel Ruiz-García). (D) Comparison of the Nariño cat (right) with an individual of tigrina (from the Caquetá Department in Colombia) with a larger range in the northern Andes and with similar mitochondrial haplotypes to those of margays and ocelots (left) (Photo Manuel Ruiz-García). Central American and trans-Andean tigrinas: (E) One of the tigrinas sampled in Costa Rica (Photo José González-Maya), and (F) A tigrina analyzed from Intag (Imbabura Province, Ecuador) that had a phenotype very similar to the Costa Rican tigrinas that were analyzed and shown in the previous photo. Both tigrinas were molecularly confirmed as well-defined tigrina taxa or lineages. (Photo Manuel Ruiz-García). (G) Photo of a skin of a tigrina from Venezuela that was very similar to the holotype of Felis pardinoides emerita Thomas, 1914 (type locality: Merida, Venezuela). (Photo Anderson Feijó). (H,I) Photos showing the holotype of M. caucensis Allen, 1915 (type locality: Las Pavas, Cauca Department, Colombia). (Photo Anderson Feijó). (J) Photo of a skin that was very similar to the holotype of M. tigrina elenae Allen, 1915 (type locality: Santa Elena, Antioquia, Colombia). (Photo Manuel Ruiz-García). (K,L) Photos of two tigrinas sampled in the Azuay Province (Ecuador) where the holotype of F. p. andina Thomas, 1903 (type locality: Jima, Province of Azuay in southern Ecuador) was originally discovered. (Photo Juan Carlos Sánchez and Photo Jorge Brito, respectively). Photos of L. colocola from Ecuador with a differentiated morphology (plus differentiated mitochondrial DNA and nuclear microsatellite alleles) from a geographical area near where the Nariño cat was discovered: (M) Specimen of L. colocola killed in San Lorenzo in the Imbabura Province, northern Ecuador (Photo Diego Tirira), and (N) Exemplar of L. colocola from Macará, southern Ecuador (Photo Diego Tirira). The morphologies of these two specimens (M,N) differ from that of the proposed new species, L. narinensis. |
Leopardus narinensis sp. nov. Ruiz-García
Holotype: The holotype skin is in the Instituto von Humboldt (ID 5857) (Figure 1).
Type locality: The specimen was collected in 1989 on the Galeras Volcano, Nariño Department (Colombia) (...), 3,100 m above sea level (masl).
Morphological diagnosis: Its ground color is more reddish than in other L. tigrinus phenotypes. Most of the rosettes are bordered by black rims, but the rosettes’ interiors have a much more intense reddish color than that of other L. tigrinus specimens. Compared to other L. tigrinus taxa, the top of the Nariño cat’s head and its dorsal crest are much darker. Its coat is denser and woollier. The head is rounder and wider. The body is relatively more robust than in other L. tigrinus taxa.
Molecular diagnosis: Species-level diagnostic characters for the Nariño cat were observed in the two mitochondrial genes for which there are more sequences in neotropical cats (mtATP8 and mtND5) and yielded the following seven synapomorphies: At the ATP8 gene (three synapomorphies) in the nucleotide positions 8530 (T), 8594 (A), and 8597 (T). At the ND5 gene (four synapomorphies) in the nucleotide positions 12,506 (A), 12,715 (A), 12,737 (A), and 12,749 (A). These seven synapomorphies differentiated these two mt genes of the Nariño cat from those of all the other species of the genus Leopardus and from the domestic cat and the jaguarundi.
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Etymology: The specific name refers to the Nariño Department in southern Colombia where this specimen was obtained. We propose the common name of Nariño or Galeras cat (by its origin) or red tigrina (because its pelage is mostly reddish). If the geographical distribution of this new taxon is larger than is currently believed, red tigrina would be the preferred common name.
Manuel Ruiz-García, Myreya Pinedo-Castro and Joseph Mark Shostell. 2023. Morphological and Genetics Support for a Hitherto Undescribed Spotted Cat Species (Genus Leopardus; Felidae, Carnivora) from the Southern Colombian Andes. Genes. 14(6); 1266. DOI: 10.3390/genes14061266
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Molecular Ecology, Phylogeography, and Phylogenetics of Mammals)
