Discovering new animal species is easier than you might think, if you consider that so far we have described around two million of them and it is estimated that there are up to 10 million of them on Earth. Discovering new mammals, however, is decidedly rarer, and there are groups for which it seems almost impossible.
In this sense, Leopardus tilcayo It’s something of a miracle: it’s the first new species of feline discovered in over a century, as per a study published on Current Biology. It belongs to the genre Leoparduswhich means that it is not a leopard (now we’ll explain it to you), lives in Bolivia and was discovered almost by chance by a researcher who is also an explorer of the National GeographicPaola Nogales Ascarrunz.
The discovery of tilcayo
Nogales Ascarrunz, who works for the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz, is also a volunteer at the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary, a rescue and rehabilitation center for wild animals near the Bolivian metropolis. It is here that one day a cat was brought, which had been adopted by a local worker convinced that he was dealing with a domestic feline; the man quickly realized he was dealing with a wild animal, and handed it over to the center. Nogales Ascarrunz says he noticed him because he was very small and, above all, he had a pattern of spots on his fur that did not resemble that of any other known feline.
Initially, however, Nogales Ascarrunz was convinced that she was dealing with an example of Leopardus tigrinusthe northern tiger cat or tigrillo, one of the species of the genus Leoparduswhich includes a number of American felines including the ocelot and the margay (and which Not includes the African leopard, which belongs to the genus Panthera).
However, a genetic analysis of the specimen gave her an unexpected result: a new genome, different from that of other American felines. Convinced that she had made a mistake in her analyses, the researcher abandoned the undertaking – only to return a few years later “armed” with new genetic knowledge. This time, the analyzes confirmed that Leopardus tilcayo it was a new species, the first new species of feline described since 1923, when the colocolo was named.
How is a tilcayo made?
Leopardus tilcayoor from now on simply tilcayo, resembles other felines of its kind, but has larger spots and a longer, less hairy tail.
It is smaller than a domestic cat: it reaches 50 cm in length (to which must be added 25 cm of tail) and weighs a maximum of a couple of kilograms.
The first specimen we discovered lived in a sanctuary, but in nature this species inhabits the Yungas region, characterized by the so-called cloud forests, which as the name suggests are covered in clouds all year round. For now we only know two specimens, but having identified it will help to identify others – also to be able to give an assessment of their conservation status.
The most surprising aspect of the whole matter is that the tilcayo had already been known to local Bolivian communities for a long time: the name “tilcayo” is precisely what the natives gave to the feline, and curiously no one knows its origins. Nogales Ascarrunz says he spoke with several people who knew of the existence of tilcayo, and asked them if the name had a meaning in some indigenous language such as Quechua.
The answer? “No, it’s just called that.” And therefore the study published on Current Biology suggests keeping the name and not asking too many questions: “It’s a community tradition and we want to preserve it,” explained the discoverer of the tilcayo.
Not just the tilcayo
The tilcayo is without a doubt the absolute protagonist of the study, but it is worth pointing out that it is not the only one. The analyzes of Nogales Ascarrunz have in fact made it possible to identify another subspecies of Leopardus tigrinus, L. tigrinus antisuyoand to update the species count to five Leopardus in South America.
All five, explains the study, live in habitats that are rapidly disappearing, and need special attention in terms of conservation: not easy, given that we are talking about elusive species that are very difficult to observe in nature (and therefore equally difficult to census).
For now, Nogales Ascarrunz has begun a project to install camera traps in the Yungas, in the hope of “catching” some more specimens of tilcayo. His other hope is that the discovery of a new feline can remind the public how many species we still have to discover, especially in certain habitats; in the researcher’s words, tilcayo “is a new reason to protect the world.”
