Scientists identify first new wild cat species in over 100 years in Bolivian forest

In the forests of Bolivia, a spotted wildcat has been living quietly beyond the reach of human classification for over a century — the last period during which no new wild cat species was formally named anywhere on Earth. Scientists have now studied it, distinguished it from its relatives, and given it a name, closing a gap in the taxonomic record that few expected still existed. The discovery is less about the cat, which has always been there, and more about the limits of human knowing — a reminder that the living world remains larger and more mysterious than our maps of it suggest.