Tigrilla, what kind of name is that?

It is kind of nice that most people like my name, even if they have no idea what it is. It is different, exotic--it rolls of the tongue... Tigrilla.

I am always curious to hear how it is pronounced with different accents: Southern American, Irish, Russian, Japanese, English... and even though I usually hear it with an Italian accent--since that is where I live most of the time--the correct accent is Spanish, with the "ya" sound for the double L.

But what is a Tigrilla, or to be correct, a tigrillo, anyway?

May I present to you, tigrillo:

 or Leopardus Tigrinus to be exact:

Aren't I adorable?

Tigrillo, or oncilla, as it is sometimes called in English, is a small South American feline. I have been called northern tiger cat and little spotted cat, but I think that is just because I am small. I am about 40cm and live up in the trees in areas ranging from Central America up to central Brazil. My next size up cousin in the margay, followed by the ocelot. Here you can see a chart of all three of us together.

If you see one of me, be careful, I am endangered

I am considered "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List because the population is threatened by deforestation and conversion of habitat to agriculture. Another reason why my personal work as a researcher into plant intelligence and plant communication with the goal to cure humanity of plant blindness is so important. If my kind keeps losing land and trees, we will disappear completely, and I have no desire to become extinct.

Here I am chilling in my favorite environment, up in the trees:

Want to know how I got my name?