Ecological modeling, biogeography, and phenotypic analyses setting the tiger cats’ hyperdimensional niches reveal a new species Author de Oliveira, Tadeu G. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual do Maranhão (UEMA), Campus Paulo VI, Av. Lourenço Vieira da Silva 1000, Jardim São Cristóvão, São Luís, Maranhão 65055 ‑ 310, Brazil & Instituto Pro-Carnívoros, Atibaia, SP, Brazil & Tiger Cats Conservation Initiative (TCCI), São Luís, Brazil & Programa de Pós‑Graduação em Ecologia, Conservação e Manejo da Vida Silvestre – ECMVS, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Author Fox-Rosales, Lester A. Author Ramírez-Fernández, José D. Author Cepeda-Duque, Juan C. Author Zug, Rebecca Author Sanchez-Lalinde, Catalina Author Oliveira, Marcelo J. R. Author Marinho, Paulo H. D. Author Bonilla-Sánchez, Alejandra Author Marques, Mara C. Author Cassaro, Katia Author Moreno, Ricardo Author Rumiz, Damián Author Peters, Felipe B. Author Ortega, Josué Author Cavalcanti, Gitana Author Mooring, Michael S. Author Blankenship, Steven R. Author Brenes-Mora, Esteban Author Dias, Douglas Author Mazim, Fábio D. Author Eizirik, Eduardo Author Diehl, Jaime L. Author Marques, Rosane V. Author Ribeiro, Ana Carolina C. Author Cruz, Reginaldo A. Author Pasa, Emanuelle Author Meira, Lyse P. C. Author Pereira, Alex Author Ferreira, Guilherme B. Author de Pinho, Fernando F. Author Sena, Liana M. M. Author de Morais, Vinícius R. Author Ribeiro Luiz, Micheli Author Moura, Vitor E. C. Author Favarini, Marina O. Author Leal, Karla P. G. Author Wagner, Paulo G. C. Author dos Santos, Maurício C. Author Sanderson, James Author Araújo, Elienê P. Author Rodrigues, Flávio H. G. text Scientific Reports 2024 2395 2024-01-29 14 1 1 19 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52379-8 journal article 287022 10.1038/s41598-024-52379-8 40e28a6a-f948-4863-965e-efb4b91f43af PMC10825201 38287072 10609103 Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 177534 ) : The savanna tiger-cat is a 2.34 kg felid with a slender long-legged body and long margay-sized thin tail, with proportionally large ears, and a yellowish or gray-yellowish background color with either small open or solid large dot-like rosettes that may coalesce, with two pairs of mammae/teats ( Fig. 8a ). The savanna tiger-cat range comprises varying vanishing savanna and dry scrub woodland formations in Brazil and the Guiana Shield, which means that they mostly live in lowland non-forested habitats with low tree cover (typically <50%), with a median canopy height of 3 m that nevertheless has dense undergrowth, and that are mostly found in less productive soils, in areas of dry weather (<1000 mm rainfall/year) with hot temperatures, and in tropical dry/semi-arid climates, typically where the dominant mesopredator/intraguild killer (ocelot) is absent or low in number. Intraguild interactions appear to play a role and to have evolutionarily limited the species multidimensional space.