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div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited { color:#06c; } A leopard can, after all, change its spots: a new species of big cat has been identified for the first time in almost two centuries. The big cats prowling the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra had long been assumed to be the same clouded leopards that are found in mainland Asia. Genetic analysis and comparisons of fur patterns have now shown the two animals to be as distinct as the lion and the tiger, the WWF announced yesterday. Among the findings that convinced scientists was the realisation that the Bornean cat has changed the number and prominence of its spots.

The cats have now been reclassified as the Bornean clouded leopard, with the name Neofelis diardi, to distinguish them from other clouded leopards, Neofelis nebulosa. The two species, both endangered, are shown by genetic analysis to have separated 1.4 million years ago, after the animals used a land bridge, now covered by water, from mainland Asia to reach Borneo and Sumatra.