The tilcayo is the new wild cat on the block
Science Friday

The tilcayo is the new wild cat on the block

B1IntermediateOctober 2, 202612 min
  • Science

Big news for tiny cats: an itty-bitty three-pound spotted cat from Bolivia—called the tilcayo—is the first new wild cat species described in more than a hundred years. Tilcayo pics have been all over the news and social media, but there’s much more to tilcayo’s tale, including the surprising story behind its discovery. Flora chats with Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, the biologist who worked for nearly 10 years to describe this flashy feline. They also discuss how Paola met the tilcayo, why it was so hard to classify, and what the reaction has been in Bolivia.<...

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we're talking to the biologist who worked for nearly 10 years to describe this flashy feline.

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which studies wild cats like jaguars, ocelots, and margays.

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0:00

Hey, it's Flora, and you're listening to Science Friday. Big news in tiny cats. An itty-bitty three-pound spotted cat from Bolivia called the Tilcayo is the first new wild cat species described in more than a hundred years.

0:20

Tilcayo picks have been catnip on social media. I mean, it's adorable. grumpy looking in a characteristic cat way. But there's so much more to Tilcaya's tail, including the fascinating and kind of hard to believe story behind its discovery. So today

0:39

we're talking to the biologist who worked for nearly 10 years to describe this flashy feline. Paolo Nogales-Ascarunz leads the Bolivian Felid Research and Conservation Program, which studies wild cats like jaguars, ocelots, and margays. Paola, welcome to Science Friday.

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