Scent rubbing is a behavior where a mammal rubs its body against an object in their environment, sometimes in ones covered with strongly odored substances. It is typically shown in

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other so ...

s, although many mammals exhibit this behavior. Lowering shoulders, collapsing the forelegs, pushing forward and rubbing the chin, temples, neck, or back is how this act is performed. A variety of different odors can elicit this behavior including feces, vomit, fresh or decaying meat,

insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to ...

, urine, repellent, ashes, human food and so on. Scent rubbing can be produced by an animal smelling novel odors, which include manufactured smells such as perfume or motor oil and carnivore smells including feces and food smells. Scent rubbing is often performed with

scent marking In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal consistently defends against conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against animals of other species) using agonistic behaviors or (less commonly) real physical aggression. A ...

and

self-anointing Self-anointing in animals, sometimes called anointing or anting, is a behaviour whereby a non-human animal smears odoriferous substances over themselves. These substances are often the secretions, parts, or entire bodies of other animals or plant ...

, and is typically used by animals to scent mark an object in their surroundings. This marking can be used as a means of communication between species. Many different species of

felids Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to th ...

, monkeys,

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nort ...

s, wolves and marmots have primarily been used to study scent rubbing in carnivores. Differences in gender and age exist for scent rubbing, with adults and males performing the behavior more frequently than juveniles and females in many species.

Species

Felidae

Many carnivorous felids scent rub. Felids are able to discriminate between similar smelling odors using the

vomeronasal organ The vomeronasal organ (VNO), or Jacobson's organ, is the paired auxiliary olfactory (smell) sense organ located in the soft tissue of the nasal septum, in the nasal cavity just above the roof of the mouth (the hard palate) in various tetrapo ...

, which is important for eliciting scent rubbing. The rubbing behavior is often performed as a means of scent-marking. Nasopalatine and vomeronasal duct

Domestic cat

Domestic cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

display scent rubbing. The cheeks, abdomen, paws, above tail and around the anus contain organs that produce scent. When a cat is comfortable with their surroundings and environment, they release the feline facial pheromone during facial rubbing in order to leave this pheromone on the objects around them. Cats scent rub against objects as a means of marking by releasing pheromones with glandular secretions, and information about the animal's age, sex, and identity can be obtained from these secretions. Domestic cats will more frequently rub against an object that is new to their environment. When an object is induced with the scent of another animal it causes an increase in rubbing as it contains sensory properties that are not familiar to the cat. When a cat is presented with an object treated with scent gland secretions from both a rat and snake, the cat will forcefully scent rub its head against it. Mutual face rubbing behavior between cats in groups and cats rubbing against their owners may be a form of social bonding. During rubbing against humans, cats tend to use the temporal gland area which consists of the cheek, between the eye and the ear.

Leopard

Kalahari

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus ''Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

s use trees in their environment to scent rub. When the backs and flanks are rubbed against trees it is most often related to itching rather than scent rubbing, but when rubbing to scent mark is used it is mostly demonstrated by males when mating. It is suggested that this rubbing behavior is a form of chemical communication regarding female attention.

Bears

Bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nort ...

s rub against the ground, trees and rocks in order to scent mark. This is the most frequent way that bears mark their surroundings. Black bears rub their cheeks, back, neck and head against trees in a bipedal stance. This act is noted most often during the breeding season for

grizzly The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

bears as a form of communication. The behavioral aspect of scent rubbing is shown during interspecific interactions between these bears, as black bears are found to decrease their tree rubbing once a grizzly has already done so. The andean bear scent rubs against trees at marking sites by rubbing its neck, shoulders, flanks or back. Sometimes this species marks the tree with its claws or urinates while rubbing. The behavior in this species is thought to be linked to intraspecific communication. This communication lets other bears know whose territory that is.

Old World monkeys

The rubbing behaviors of the Southern brown

howler monkey Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropics and are among the largest of the platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyteles''), the spider monkeys (''Ateles' ...

s are linked to scent marking. Throat (facial and neck), anal, dorsal, chest and chin rubbing has been observed in ''Alouatta'' and is mostly performed while sitting. Like felids, howler monkeys use their vomeronasal sensory organs to distinguish pheromones. Dominant howlers of both male and female genders scent rub and mark more than subordinate conspecifics. Anogenital rubbing in monkeys is associated with cleaning after defecation and urination and also deposits the animals scent for other species to notice. Black-handed spider monkeys are another ''

Cercopithecidae Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons ...

'' species which display fur rubbing against the leaves of Rutaceae plants. The scent rubbing behaviour shown by the white-faced capuchin of this species is often done by many individuals simultaneously, creating an interaction among their population and may function in scent marking and olfactory communication.

Woolly monkey The woolly monkeys are the genus ''Lagothrix'' of New World monkeys, usually placed in the family Atelidae. Both species in this genus originate from the rainforests of South America. They have prehensile tails and live in relatively large soc ...

s also show scent rubbing in the form of chest rubbing that suggests the behaviour has a reproductive function. The reasoning for chest rubbing in woolly monkeys is similar to the throat rubbing displayed by howler monkeys during mating season. Rubbing behaviour in woolly monkeys has also been linked to dominance and social communication.

Gray wolf

Gray wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

scent rub to a large variety of odors including urine, perfumes, repellant, ashes, human handled objects, food, and resting sites. They scent rub intensively to manufactured smells such as motor oil and carnivore scents such as feces of other animals including black bear and cougars. The reason behind scent rubbing in wolves is unknown, but it is suggested that they use it to remember odors experienced in their environment, whether new or familiar.

Marmot

Marmots slowly rub their faces from mouth to ears on objects repeatedly as a form of scent rubbing called cheek rubbing. This behavior is common, and the objects are typically stones, rocks and the ground around burrows. They conduct this behavior to scent mark, and when interrupted fights can occur. Marmots scent rub on new objects within their home environment.

Communication

Scent rubbing can be used as a form of communication between many terrestrial mammals. This method is used to send messages, find mates and to keep away from areas where others have foraged. Odours produced by

sweat gland Sweat glands, also known as sudoriferous or sudoriparous glands, , are small tubular structures of the skin that produce sweat. Sweat glands are a type of exocrine gland, which are glands that produce and secrete substances onto an epithelial su ...

s, urine, feces and vaginal secretions often induce this behavior, which is prominent in carnivore species. Scent rubbing by males in many species is related to intrasexual communication and social interaction, such as the social status the animal holds in that population. Carnivores often scent rub as a mechanism of

olfactory communication Animal communication is the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) that affects the current or future behavior of the receivers. Information may be sent int ...

in which they release chemical odours to increase odds of being detected by conspecifics. Spider monkeys rub saliva onto their sternal region and then rub this area against a tree, which may serve as a form of olfactory communication as they often use their apocrine glands, located in the sternal area, for this communication. Rubbing behavior displayed through cheek rubbing can reveal dominance in a population, with subordinate individuals doing this less than dominant ones. Scent rubbing also allows animals to gather scent from their surroundings onto themselves. Gray foxes have been found to cheek rub fresh puma scrapes in order to acquire the scent and mask their own, deterring predation by other animals. This shows that scent rubbing has an interspecific scent marking function.

Odours that induce rubbing

Both strong naturally occurring and artificial substances can cause mammals to scent rub. Strong smelling substances include rotting meat, fresh meat, vomit, faeces, food and the intestinal contents of other animals. Artificial substances that induce this behaviour include engine oil, perfume and insecticide. When an animal encounters an object with a novel or familiar smell it can elicit rubbing various body parts against this object.

Sex and age differences

Sex

The scent rubbing behavior has been observed more frequently in males than females for many species. Certain male domestic cats, bears, monkeys and leopards are shown to scent rub more than their female conspecifics. There is an increase of scent rubbing during breeding season for black bears, but this is done predominantly by males. Body rubbing as a means of scent marking is done more often by male pumas. In species of spider monkey, adult males perform fur rubbing more often than females.

Age

Scent rubbing in cats is performed by adult animals more often than juveniles, indicating that the behaviour is used as a means of marking territory or of expressing their status. Adult marmots display a form of scent rubbing called cheek rubbing more than young members of the species. Mature pumas spent a significantly longer time body rubbing than immature pumas, which is related to communication behaviours developing with age, mature females did not visit their community scrapes as often. Only sexually mature woolly monkeys exhibit chest rubbing, which suggests that this scent rubbing behaviour reproductive function.

References

{{reflist Mammal behavior