Northern Tigrina

Open encyclopedia reference

The oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), also known as the northern tiger cat, little spotted cat, and tigrillo, is a small spotted cat ranging from Central America to central Brazil. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the population is threatened by deforestation and conversion of habitat to agricultural land.

In 2013, it was proposed to assign the oncilla populations in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina to a new species, the southern tiger cat (L. guttulus), after it was found that it does not interbreed with the oncilla population in northeastern Brazil. In 2024, a similar argument was put forth with regards to the Andean montane cloud forest sub-population; for a third species to be recognized, now known as the clouded tiger cat (L. pardinoides). In 2026, a genetic analysis of Leopardus species in South America proposed that the L. tigrinus complex comprised five species, adding the tilcayo (L. tilcayo).

Wikipedia contributors, Oncilla; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:19:57.910104+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775)

Name authority

(Schreber, 1775)

Common name

Northern Tigrina

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Carnivora

Family

Felidae

Genus

Leopardus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderCarnivora Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderFeliformia Kretzoi, 1945
13. familyFelidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
14. subfamilyFelinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
15. genusLeopardus Gray, 1842
16. speciesLeopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Leopardus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 41 records assigned to Felidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=621868 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6P8MM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.