“A three-pound wildcat with leopardlike spots from Bolivia who once lived briefly as a house pet isn’t just adorable. He is also, scientists say, the standard-bearer for the first new feline species discovered in a century.

The cat himself is named Tigrino, and his species is called tilcayo.

Several other cat species have gained official recognition after previously being considered subspecies. But the tilcayo, found in the cloud forests of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia, is the first brand-new feline species added to the cat family tree since the pampas cat was described in 1923.

The diminutive tilcayo, officially Leopardus tilcayo, resembles its closest relatives, the so-called tiger cats, found in Central and South America. After DNA analysis, the scientists whose study was published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology say the species split from its closest relatives 1.4 million years ago.”

From New York Times.