Read the paperPhylogenomics and museomics reveal five distinct species of tiger cats in South America
Lescroart, Nogales-Ascarrunz, Eizirik et al. describe a novel species from the Bolivian Yungas — Leopardus tilcayo — and a novel subspecies from the Peruvian Yungas, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo. Five tiger-cat lineages, one paper.
Named 2026 · Solana
Leopardus tigrinus Antisuyo$Antisuyo
The Peruvian Yungas tiger cat — named in the same Current Biology paper that pulled Tigrino out of the fog as Leopardus tilcayo. We share the cloud forest and the old word tigrino. We do not share a species. A community meme on Solana.
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02 — About
New subspecies
2026
Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo is a new subspecies, described in 2026 in the same study as Leopardus tilcayo. One paper. Two names. Peru’s Yungas tiger cat, written down beside the Bolivian cat they pulled from the fog.
Tilcayo is the new species. Antisuyo is the new subspecies that stayed with L. tigrinus, named for Antisuyu — the Inca east that still holds the forest. Same cloud line. Same study. Not the same animal.
No whitepaper. No venture deck. A community meme on Solana for the cat that paper had to name.
Field notes
The record that named both cats
Read the reportNew cat species identified in Bolivia, first in over a century
The Tilcayo — light brown, rosetted, smaller than a house cat — is formally named Leopardus tilcayo. The same study names the Peruvian unit Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo after Antisuyu.
03 — Bio
Kin of
Tigrino
Tigrino opened the door. Antisuyo walked through it. Same ridge of moss and fog. Two names the genome refused to collapse.
This cat
Antisuyo
Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo
Peruvian Yungas subspecies of the northern tiger cat. On the ground they still say tigrino, oncilla, gato tigre. English name: Antisuyo tiger cat. Type from San Juan de Cacazú, Pasco. Named for Antisuyu — the Inca east that still holds the forest.
The holotype
Tigrino
Leopardus tilcayo
Found as a cub in Nor Yungas, 2016. Kept in a house, then Senda Verde. Science filed him as L. tigrinus. His genome said no. He became the holotype of Tilcayo — first new living cat species in more than a century.
Lineage
Cryptic cousins
They look like one animal. They are not. Tilcayo split about 1.43 million years ago. Antisuyo later stayed with L. tigrinus, closer to the Guiana type than to Tigrino.
Range
Two Yungas
Antisuyo: Peru’s cloud forest. Tilcayo: Bolivia’s. Nearby on the map, far on the tree — the paper’s unexpected result. Habitat under fire, farms, and mines.
Ticker
$Antisuyo
A community meme on Solana for the cat that paper had to name. The contract arrives when the mist lifts. Until then — follow the ridge.
Walk the ridge
X and Telegram are the campfire. Bring a better shot of the cat, a better line, or just sit in the fog with the rest of us.