Clouded leopard: Photo by fuzuoko

Scientists working for the World Wildlife Fund have recently “discovered” a new species of cat, with the longest teeth in the feline world. The Borneo clouded leopard has fangs that can grow up to 2 inches long. Only the extinct saber-tooth tiger of North America has longer chompers.

The interesting thing is, scientists have known about the clouded leopard on Borneo for over 100 years. But it wasn’t until recently that they compared its DNA to that of clouded leopards on mainland Asia. When they did, they discovered some 40 differences – making the island cat as different from its continental cousin as lions are from tigers.

The Borneo clouded leopard lives in an inaccessible jungle, a part of the island which scientists have only recently begun exploring for the first time. So far, they have found 50 new species, just from this one area.

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