The Nariño Cat, the Tigrinas and Their Problematic Systematics and Phylogeography: The Real Story

The systematics and phylogeny of the most speciose genus (Leopardus) of the felidae have historically been contentious and problematic. These issues have been compounded with the recent advancement of genetic techniques that make it possible to detect events such as incomplete lineage sorting (ILS), punctual historical ancestral introgression (PHAI), and repetitive introgression or recent hybridization (RI-RH). Each of these events have noteworthily affected the Leopardus genus. One Leopardus taxon (Leopardus tigrinus, herein called tigrina) has been especially complex from a phylogenetic point of view. In the last decade, one new species has been reported (L. guttulus) and two other new species likely exist within the tigrinas (L. emiliae and L. pardinoides). However, the most surprising find was the discovery of a new and not previously reported tigrina, the Nariño cat, from the southern Andean region of Colombia (2023). Later that same year, a new paper criticized the discovery. In response to that criticism, herein, we provide new molecular genetics results of the Nariño cat as well as new insights into the molecular phylogeny of the tigrinas inside the Leopardus genus: (1) In this new work, we analyzed the mtND5 gene of Nariño cat samples collected over four years (2001, 2007, 2017, 2023) as well as analyzed mitogenomes of Nariño cat samples collected in three different years (2001, 2017, 2023). The temporal Nariño cat samples (2001, 2007, 2017, 2023) refer to samples taken from a single specimen across different years. Based on these analyses, data from 2001 and 2007 represent the most reliable information. In contrast, samples from 2017 and 2023 may be contaminated with DNA from the Pampas cat and tigrina, respectively. (2) On the other hand, based on sequencing the mtND5 gene of 164 specimens of Leopardus, northern Andean and Central American tigrinas (37 specimens) are divided into at least six different groups (without counting the Nariño cat). Based on our analysis of sequenced mitogenomes of 102 specimens (including 34 northern Andean and Central American tigrinas) of the Leopardus genus, there are at least eight different groups of tigrinas (without counting the Nariño cat). Henceforth, there are strong datasets which support the existence of multiple lineages within the presumed “a priori” northern Andean tigrina and thus much of the genetic diversity of this wild cat has gone unnoticed. There are a series of potential taxa that have gone unnoticed due to a lack of sampling of this polyphyletic Andean feline.