Thread

The first new cat species discovered in 100 years

379 points · 148 comments · ohjeez

autoexec · 1789671867 · focus · HN ↗
It's Leopardus tilcayo aka 'tilcayo tiger cat' and it's very cute. Wikipedia doesn't have a page dedicated to it yet.
Bonus pics: <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/SEI_312819149.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://www.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/SEI_...
<a href="https://media.zenfs.com/en/live_science_953/73a4cafd69e9e86312a459e0206a1469.png" rel="nofollow">https://media.zenfs.com/en/live_science_953/73a4cafd69e9e863...
<a href="https://media.zenfs.com/en/live_science_953/1fea354ba7a8db696e3bc8750e32dca0.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://media.zenfs.com/en/live_science_953/1fea354ba7a8db69...
<a href="https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/get/maximage/20260917_1789662761-615.jpeg?1789662761" rel="nofollow">https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/get/maximage/20260917_17896627...
1. cromka · 1789689002 · focus · HN ↗
  Looks like a house cat, I am betting it's a matter of months before someone starts selling the crossbreds, like they do with Bengal.
  Also, they're only 3-4 lbs!
  1. dotancohen · 1789771306 · focus · HN ↗
    I believe that tri-colour house cats are all female. This is a tri-colour male.
    shagie · 1789780576 · focus · HN ↗
    Spots are different.
    The trim-color house cats refers to all calicos... calicos are white spotted tortoiseshell cats. The "is orange or black" is a X linked gene, so you can have XoXb... and then the x chromosome inactivation kicks in and some groups of cells are activated orange and some are activated black.
    But (not white) spots and variations of color get into things like the Agouti gene ( <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agouti_coloration_genetics" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agouti_coloration_genetics ). A tabby cat (black and tan, or orange and darker orange) has no sex linked characteristics.
    For a deep dive into the genetics of Agouti and how that influences cat fur colors, <a href="http://messybeast.com/genetics-agouti-and-corin.htm" rel="nofollow">http://messybeast.com/genetics-agouti-and-corin.htm
    dotancohen · 1789809313 · focus · HN ↗
    I very much appreciate the correction, thank you.

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.