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Scientists Identify Bolivia’s Leopardus tilcayo as New Cat Species
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Story summary
- Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz and colleagues identified Leopardus tilcayo as a new cat species in Bolivia.
- It is the first living feline named in over a hundred years.
- DNA analysis shows Tilcayo split from closest relatives about 1.4 million years ago.
- Two individuals, including a 10-year-old male, reside at Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia.
- Researchers named a new tiger-cat subspecies in Peru, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo, and filed it with IUCN.