2026年9月18日 美国东部时间上午7:36 / 法新社
一名玻利维亚研究人员周四向法新社透露，科学家们一个多世纪以来首次发现了一种新的野生猫科动物。
这种被称为蒂尔卡约虎猫的小型猫科动物有着类似豹子的斑点皮毛，在首都拉巴斯附近的云加斯山区被发现。
参与该研究团队的生物学家、国家地理探险家宝拉·诺加莱斯-阿斯卡伦斯表示，在玻利维亚安第斯山脉见过这种动物的当地人此前曾将它误认为普通家猫。
当地人给这种动物起的昵称“tilcayo”成为了它新的科学命名灵感：Leopardus tilcayo（蒂尔卡约虎猫）。
2026年9月1日，在玻利维亚云加斯地区的森达维德动物避难所内，一只由国家地理探险家宝拉·诺加莱斯-阿斯卡伦斯牵头研究确认的新物种蒂尔卡约虎猫正在行走。费尔南多·法西奥莱 / 国家地理 / 路透社供图
诺加莱斯-阿斯卡伦斯称赞这一发现是“一项重大事件，因为已有100年没有新的野生猫科物种被正式描述过了”。
这是自1923年发现乌拉圭潘帕斯猫以来，首次被发现的猫科新物种。
蒂尔卡约虎猫比家猫略小，身长约18英寸，耳朵呈圆形。
诺加莱斯-阿斯卡伦斯表示，研究团队已对目前发现的仅有的两只蒂尔卡约虎猫进行了全基因组测序，即一种深度基因检测技术。
2026年9月1日，在玻利维亚云加斯地区的森达维德动物避难所内，牵头确认Leopardus tilcayo为新物种的研究负责人、国家地理探险家宝拉·诺加莱斯-阿斯卡伦斯正在观察这种猫科动物。费尔南多·法西奥莱 / 国家地理 / 路透社供图
一只雄性蒂尔卡约虎猫被当地居民收留后，目前生活在云加斯地区的一家动物收容所内。
另一只雌性个体在遭到当地人攻击后被救出并放归野外。
相关研究于周四发表在《当代生物学》期刊上，画上了科学家们2021年启动的这项研究的圆满句号。
诺加莱斯-阿斯卡伦斯表示：“截至目前，这种猫科动物仅在玻利维亚被发现，地球上其他任何地方都没有。”
她指出，该物种已被列为易危物种，但由于种群数量稀少，可能很快会被认定为“面临极高灭绝风险”。
New species of wild cat discovered for first time in more than a century, researcher says
September 18, 2026 7:36 AM EDT / AFP
Scientists have discovered a new species of wild cat for the first time in more than a century, a Bolivian researcher told AFP on Thursday.
The Tilcayo tiger cat, a small feline with a spotted, leopard-like coat, was identified in the mountainous Yungas region near the capital, La Paz.
Locals who saw the creature in the Bolivian Andes had mistaken it for an ordinary house cat, said biologist and National Geographic explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, who was part of the research team that studied them.
The nickname “tilcayo” given to the animal by locals inspired its new scientific designation: Leopardus tilcayo.
A Leopardus tilcayo cat, a newly identified species through research led by National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, walks at the Senda Verde animal refuge in the Yungas region of Bolivia on Sept. 1, 2026. Fernando Faciole / National Geographic / Handout via Reuters
Nogales-Ascarrunz lauded the discovery as a “remarkable event, because a new wild cat species hasn’t been described in 100 years.”
The cat is the first feline discovered since the Uruguayan pampas cat in 1923.
The tilcayo is slightly smaller than a domestic cat, measuring around 18 inches, with rounded ears.
A pair of tilcayos — the only such creatures found so far — have undergone whole genome sequencing, Nogales-Ascarrunz said, referring to a type of in-depth genetic testing.
National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, who led the research that identified Leopardus tilcayo as a new species, observes the cat at the Senda Verde animal refuge in the Yungas region of Bolivia on Sept. 1, 2026. Fernando Faciole / National Geographic / Handout via Reuters
A male tilcayo is living at an animal shelter in Yungas after it was handed over by a family who had taken it in.
A female was rescued and released into the wild after being attacked by locals.
Research on the species was published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology, capping off research that scientists began in 2021.
“So far, it’s only been detected in Bolivia” and not “anywhere else on the planet,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said.
She said the creatures were classified as vulnerable to extinction, but their small numbers meant they could soon be considered “at much greater risk” of dying out.
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