Paola Micaela Nogales Ascarrunz is a Bolivian biologist whose research focuses on the conservation of New World cats. She is a researcher at the National Natural History Museum of Bolivia and a National Geographic Society explorer. Her research contributed to the description of the tilcayo as a distinct species of tiger cat.
She is a member of the Bolivian Network of Mammalogy ().
Early life and education Nogales-Ascarrunz was born on August 5, 1994, in La Paz, Bolivia. She earned a degree in biology from the Higher University of San Andrés in 2019. She received a Chevening Scholarship to study abroad and earned a master's degree in ecological and evolutionary genomics from Queen Mary's College, University of London, in 2022.
Research Nogales-Ascarrunz's research involves Bolivia's wild cats. She leads the Research Program for Bolivian Felids (Programa de Investigación de Félidos de Bolivia). Her conservation efforts focus on jaguars and Geoffroy's cats, including efforts to mitigate poaching.
In 2024, she documented the existence of Pantanal cats in the Chiquitano dry forests, which were previously not considered part of their habitat.
She was part of a research team that identified the tilcayo as a new species in 2026. The tilcayo was the first extant cat species formally described since 1923. The team also described a new tiger cat subspecies in Peru’s Yungas region, naming it Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo after Antisuyu, the region of the old Inca empire that included the area it inhabits.
Recognitions and awards On September 21, 2026, Governor of La Paz Luis Revilla held a ceremony in recognition of the achievement of Nogales and Enzo Aliaga Rossel in identifying the tilcayo.
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