48 pieces · AnimalsPhoto by Alessandro Verniani, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Side profile of a tilcayo tiger cat (Leopardus tilcayo), photographed at the La Senda Verde sanctuary in the Bolivian Yungas.
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A Tiger Cat New to Science
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A Tiger Cat New to Science
On 17 September 2026, researchers in Bolivia and Brazil published a paper in the journal Cell describing a small wild cat that science had never formally recorded: Leopardus tilcayo, a tiger cat from the Yungas forests on the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes. It is the first new feline species to be described since 1923. The name is not the researchers' invention — they took it from what the local community had always called the animal. Asked why, one resident's answer was simply that their grandfather called it a tilcayo, so they did too.
The trail began in 2016, when a Bolivian biologist was told about a "weird cat" that someone had taken home, quickly realised was in no way domesticated, and handed over to a wildlife sanctuary. The animal had long whiskers, small ears and large rosettes — clearly a member of the genus Leopardus, and most likely an oncilla or little spotted cat. Three years later, while preparing a booklet on Bolivia's cats, she noticed differences that did not fit. Roughly five years of genomic work followed, and the result was a genuine surprise: a lineage that split from its nearest relative around 1.4 million years ago, about the same span that separates modern lions from the extinct cave lion. The finding also reshapes the wider group — what was long treated as a single widespread tiger cat species is turning out to be a complex of several, now numbering five.
Almost nothing is known about how the tilcayo actually lives. Its diet, its predators, its breeding cycle and how social it is are all still open questions; the one certainty is the Yungas cloud forest it calls home. The cat in this free Animals jigsaw was photographed in side profile at the La Senda Verde sanctuary in that same region, and it is a rewarding solve — the rosette pattern gives you strong, repeating landmarks to work from, while the soft forest background asks for a slower, more patient read. Choose your piece count and play straight away in your browser.
How to play
- Tap Play A Tiger Cat New to Science puzzle to open the puzzle board, then choose your piece count and difficulty.
- Drag pieces from the tray onto the board and snap them into place until the full image is complete. Works with mouse on desktop and touch on mobile.
- Use the Preview button on the play screen to peek at the full reference image whenever you need a hint.
- When you finish, check your solve time on the completion screen and share it with friends to see who can beat your record.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tilcayo?
- Leopardus tilcayo is a small spotted wild cat from the Yungas forests on the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes, formally described in the journal Cell in September 2026. It is smaller than an average house cat, with long whiskers, small ears and large rosettes on its coat. Its name comes from the word the local Indigenous community had long used for the animal.
- Why is a new cat species such a big deal?
- Because it has been so long since the last one. The tilcayo is the first new feline species described by science since 1923. Big mammals — and charismatic ones especially — are the group researchers generally assume they have already catalogued, so finding an unrecorded wild cat is a reminder that the map has more blank spaces on it than people expect.
- What is a tiger cat, exactly?
- Tiger cats — also called oncillas, tigrinas, tigrillos or little spotted cats — are small felids of the genus Leopardus, found across parts of Central and South America. The name is a bit misleading: they are related to neither tigers nor leopards. Genomic work over the past decade has steadily split what was once thought to be a single widespread species into a complex of related ones, and the tilcayo takes that count to five.
- What makes this a good puzzle to solve?
- The rosettes. Spotted coats are ideal jigsaw subjects because the markings repeat with enough variation to be distinguishable but enough rhythm to be predictable, so you can build along the flank once you find the pattern's direction. Start with the face and ear edges, which carry the sharpest contrast, then follow the spine line back. The blurred forest background is the patient part — sort those pieces by tone rather than hunting for detail that is not there.