The Oncilla, also called the Tiger Cat, is native to pockets of dense forest
from southern Central America to northern Argentina, but is rare throughout and threatened by deforestation.
At about the size of a domestic cat, the Oncilla resembles a small Margay
or very small Ocelot (related to both), being one of the smallest wild cats in the Americas.
It is mainly nocturnal and hunts on the ground and in trees.
There were 4 subspecies throughout its range, but the southern-most subspecies has recently been split out
as a new separate species (the Southern Tiger Cat - L. guttulus) on DNA analysis and lack of inter-breeding
with the other L. tigrinus subspecies. All above images are of the Northern Oncilla/Northern Tiger Cat.
Photos of the Southern Oncilla are below.
The Southern Oncilla, also called the Southern Tiger Cat, is native to pockets of dense forest
in southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina, but is rare and threatened by deforestation. Although it has been split
from the 3 subspecies of Northern Oncilla on DNA evidence and lack of interbreeding, it is known to interbreed with the
closely related Geoffroy's Cat (L. Geoffroyi).