The story
Roadside kitten to new species in four steps.
2017
Found on a road
A man near Bolivia's Yungas forest finds a muddy kitten, thinks it's a house cat, takes it home. A year later he gives up and brings it to the sanctuary. They name him Tigrino.
2019
“This is so wrong”
Biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz notices his spots match no known tiger cat. Proving it takes seven years and 38 full genomes.
Sep 17, 2026
New species
Leopardus tilcayo. First new cat species since 1923. Published in Current Biology, announced by National Geographic. Tigrino is the only one known to science.
Sep 18, 2026
The internet pays his bills
$TIGRINO launches on Arc. A memecoin for the only known cat of his species.
His name
Tigrino
The cat. Named by the sanctuary in 2017, years before anyone knew he mattered.
His species
Tilcayo
The Latin name from the 2026 paper. People remember Doge, not “Shiba Inu”.