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Meet Leopardus tilcayo, Earth's First New Wild Cat Species in a Century
Key Takeaways
- Scientists described Leopardus tilcayo, a new living wild cat species from Bolivia's Yungas region, in the journal Current Biology.
- The animal had been living for years at a wildlife sanctuary after a local family found it in the forest and could not keep it as a pet.
- The adult male measures 46 centimeters from head to the base of the tail and weighs about 1.4 kilograms — smaller than an average house cat.
- Researchers compared genomes from more than 30 cats across Colombia, Peru and Brazil, using museum bones and skins to fill sampling gaps.
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DT Editorial Team··via phys.org