Scientists have formally described a wild cat species entirely new to science — the first in more than 100 years. Named Leopardus tilcayo, the small spotted feline lives in Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests.

The tilcayo weighs just 1.4 kg, lighter than most house cats, with rounded ears, a slender build and a coat marked with large dark spots. A study in the journal Current Biology confirmed it as genetically distinct from the tiger cats it was long confused with.

What makes the find unusual is that it did not come from reclassifying a known population. Researchers knew cats lived in these forests, but genetic analysis revealed something entirely unrecognised — a lineage that split from related cats about 1.4 million years ago.

The species name honours the word local communities have used for the animal for generations. One known individual, a 10-year-old nicknamed Tigrino, lives at the Senda Verde sanctuary near La Paz after a family that tried to keep him as a pet realised he was no house cat.

The discovery highlights how much biodiversity still hides in plain sight — and how much cloud forests are worth protecting.