The animal, Leopardus tilcayo, is about 45 centimetres long and has rounded ears. Locals have for some time mistaken it for ordinary domestic cats, according to biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, who is part of the research team that discovered the species.
Remarkable, since no new wild cat species has been described in a hundred years, she says of the research published in the journal Current Biology.
So far, only two tilcayo cats have been found. A male has been taken into care by an animal organisation and a female has recently been released into the wild, after being cared for following an attack.
The last time a cat species was discovered was in 1923.
