A rather lovely story from the news last week. A Bolivian scientist noticed that the 10-year-old tiger cat in a sanctuary didn’t have the markings any known tiger cats.

DNA analysis showed that ‘Tigrino’ is unique, the only known individual of their species given the name Leopardis tilcayo. Locals have always been aware of the Tilcayo cats in the dense rainforests of Bolivia so it’s unlikely that ‘Tigrino’ is an endling, but their sightings are rare and their forest habitat is at risk of deforestation, so the tilcayo tiger cats have immediately been place on the endangered species list.

There are various discussion avenues here, including animal sanctuaries and what students would do if they found a kitten by the side of the road. But the science is the star of this story - how cool it must have been to be the person that spotted that this was a unique species and then prove it with genetic study!

-Bill