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The story
A paper published on September 17 in the U.S. journal Current Biology reports the discovery of “Tirukayo,” a new living cat species — the first such find in more than 100 years — in the cloud forests of Bolivia, South America. Smaller than a housecat, it belongs to the genus Leopardus, the same genus as the ocelot and the Pampas cat (colocolo). On 5channel, threads lit up with a flood of adorable photos, alongside cat-lover tangents ranging from wordplay on the name “Tirukayo” (said to derive from a local language) to the history of cat domestication and the eye-watering prices calico cats fetch these days.
A new species of living cat — the first discovered in more than 100 years — has been found in the cloud forests (mountain forests frequently shrouded in fog and low clouds) of Bolivia, South America. The paper was published on September 17 (local time) in the U.S. journal Current Biology. The new species has been named “Tirukayo.”
Its habitat is the Yungas, cloud forest spanning the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes. Its body is smaller than that of a typical housecat. The genus Leopardus comprises small wild cats found throughout the Americas, with well-known examples including the ocelot and the Pampas cat (colocolo).
The research involved Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, Jonas Lescroart, and others. Nogales-Ascarrunz leads Programa de Investigación de Félidos Bolivia, a Bolivian wild cat research and conservation program. Beyond formally describing the new species, the team also gained new insights into South America’s small “tiger cats” (the jaguar-cat group), and reportedly identified a new subspecies as well.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
(;゚Д゚) They said tens of thousands of new species get discovered every year
Meow~ this one's kinda cat-like and adorable~
That's just a cute cat lol
Though I guess since it's wild, the pattern's probably there to help it blend into the background
This one's cute
I like this sleek, lean look
Is this the guy?
https://p.potaufeu.asahi.com/3958-p/picture/21366428/be3aba7b23c9d991873c9c5c9d4c0369.jpg
Kinda looks like it could just be an old pet cat that escaped and went a little feral, no?
More of a direct branch off an ancient lineage than a brand "new species" — turns out it didn't descend through any other known cat species
> When asked if the word means anything in the indigenous language
> they were just told, "That's a Tirukayo."
Well yeah, it's the same for us — if you pointed at a cat and said "that's a neko," and someone asked "what does neko mean?", we couldn't answer that either, right?
There's probably some theory that it comes from "neruko" (sleeping cat/child) or whatever
My cat trots along all dainty when people are watching, but stomps around like a boss when it's alone — total "nekokaburi" (playing innocent, lit. "wearing a cat mask")
If you kept one as a pet, feels like it'd go for your throat in the middle of the night
When little kittens get spooked they do that sideways scuttle — like the old "Kin-chan run" (a comedian's sideways crab-walk gag) — and hiss
The fur pattern is total jaguar
So cute!! 😍
At first glance I thought the woman on the left was Rambo lol
> Does it mean anything in the indigenous language?
> "My grandfather just told me, 'that's a Tirukayo'"
Seriously-kayo?! (a pun on "majikayo" — "you're kidding me" — and the cat's name)
Is that really all there is to it?
Morugessoyo (a Korean meme reaction phrase, roughly "I dunno," popular in Japanese internet culture)
FYI, apparently "Tirukayo" means "nasty-tasting meat" in the local language
Actually, it originates from the Japanese phrase "shiru kayo" ("how should I know!")
( °∀°) Feeding's banned on Ishinomaki's Cat Island, but the cats still came around anyway — so cute (using local Tohoku dialect: "megokatta"/"bea")
( °∀°)つ black oolong tea
(/◎＼) *glug*
https://gzo.ai/i/xXOZBpK.jpg
Basically a creature born of human ego
Dogs are the same — humans built the breed from wolves
They're gods that protect crops from pests, you know
Bastet: "Seriously?! …Tiru-kayo…" (punning her own line with the cat's name, which ends in "-kayo")
And they used to just be everywhere
Regardless of sex?
Calico cats gotta be the only species where the males are worth more than the females
Someone should go investigate
Background and Talking Points
Finding a new mammal species — especially a mid-sized carnivore — is genuinely rare. As posters in the thread note, the vast majority of species newly described each year are insects or plants; discoveries within a well-known group like cats are uncommon. In this case, “Tirukayo” is an animal local indigenous people had long recognized and referred to by their own name — genetic analysis is what first confirmed it belongs to a lineage separate from known species like the ocelot. Worth noting: the thread’s banter about the name’s etymology is just wordplay that spread online; the paper itself makes no definitive claim about the word’s origin. Bolivia’s Andean cloud forests tend to isolate valleys from one another, and terrain like this is thought to be one factor behind the emergence of such a distinct lineage.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “New Cat Species Discovered for First Time in Over 100 Years.”
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