Southern Tigrina (Leopardus guttulus) lives in tropical rainforest across South America. It feeds on small mammals birds. Its conservation status is Vulnerable.
Fascinating facts about the Southern Tigrina
- In 1872 Reinhold Hensel first named this cat Felis guttula, but it stayed hidden as a subspecies of the oncilla until scientists finally split it in 2013, giving it full species status. An adult southern tigrina tips the scales at just 1.9-2.4 kg and roams from central Brazil's Minas Gerais and Goiás states up to 2,000 m elevation across Atlantic forest, Paraguay and Argentina. Roughly 6,000 mature individuals survive today.
- The southern tigrina looks almost identical to its close cousin the oncilla, yet genetic tests reveal far more variation inside each species than between them, making visual ID a guessing game for field biologists. Its coat is a yellowish-ochre canvas dotted with open black rosettes, slightly darker than the oncilla and sporting a shorter tail. This cryptic similarity fuels hybrid zones where it freely interbreeds with Geoffroy's cat in southern Brazil, creating partial hybrids.
- When ocelots dominate a forest, southern tigrinas shrink in number; when ocelots disappear, the tiny cats explode in density. Researchers call this the "ocelot effect", a cascade where the loss of a top predator frees up shelter, prey and territory for smaller carnivores.
- A single mother teaches her cubs the art of hunting: in 2015 two juvenile southern tigrinas were filmed in the Atlantic forest learning to stalk and capture a cavy, showing that maternal instruction is crucial for survival. Such observations reveal that prey up to 1 kg.
- The species bears the scars of history: heavy fur-trade hunting once decimated numbers, and today habitat loss, road kills and disease from domestic dogs keep the southern tigrina on the brink. It is now protected by hunting bans in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, yet it still lives at low densities even inside reserves, underscoring the need for deeper research into its ecology and genetics to craft effective safeguards.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSouth America
HabitatTropical rainforest
DietSmall mammals birds
About the Southern Tigrina
In the dappled shadows of South America's Atlantic Forest, the Southern Tigrina pads silently, a fleck of golden light dancing across its tawny coat as it navigates the underbrush with effortless ease. With eyes like burnished copper, this diminutive wild cat surveys its kingdom, a realm of twisted vines and ancient tree trunks, where it reigns supreme as a phantom of the forest. As it moves, the Tigrina's tail twitches, a metronome marking the rhythm of its secret world, a world of whispered hunts and moonlit prowlings.
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