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 pardinoides (Gray, 186736 ) : The clouded tiger-cat is a long-tailed 2.27 kg cat with short-round ears and a remarkably margay-looking head, which has a nice dense sof fur of a rich reddish/orangish/grayish-yellow background color adorned with irregularly shaped medium-large “cloudy” rosettes that are strongly marked and ofen coalesce. Distinctively, the species has only one pair of mammae/teats ( Fig. 8b ). The clouded tiger-cat is found in the vanishing cloud forests of the southern Central American and Andean ranges at typically above 1500 m asl, but especially between 2000 and 3000 m asl, where tree cover is very high (90%), with a canopy height of 20 m, in fertile soils, in a sub-tropical/temperate climate with mild temperatures and very abundant rainfall, typically in areas where ocelot numbers are low or absent. The species may have been evolutionarily limited by intraguild interactions.