---
title: "Northern Tigrina"
description: "Leopardus tigrinus — Mammals. The oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), also known as the northern tiger cat, little spotted cat, and tigrillo, is a small spotted cat ranging from Central America to central Brazil."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/northern-tigrina
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Northern Tigrina

> Leopardus tigrinus — Mammals. The oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), also known as the northern tiger cat, little spotted cat, and tigrillo, is a small spotted cat ranging from Central America to central Brazil.

- Scientific name: *Leopardus tigrinus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest)
- iNaturalist observations: 89
- Wikidata: [Q205948](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205948)
- iNaturalist taxon: [41987](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41987)

## Names

- en: Northern Tigrina
- de: Tigerkatze
- es: Tigrillo
- fr: Oncille du Nord
- pt: Gato-do-mato-pequeno
- pl: Ocelot tygrysi

## Countries with the most observations

BR (76)

## Summary

The oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), also known as the northern tiger cat, little spotted cat, and tigrillo, is a small spotted cat ranging from Central America to central Brazil. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the population is threatened by deforestation and conversion of habitat to agricultural land.
In 2013, it was proposed to assign the oncilla populations in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina to a new species, the southern tiger cat (L. guttulus), after it was found that it does not interbreed with the oncilla population in northeastern Brazil. In 2024, a similar argument was put forth…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncilla

## Photo

![Northern Tigrina](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/northern-tigrina/medium.jpg)

Photo: Whaldener Endo · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121539104

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/northern-tigrina?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).