Both sexes of the aardwolf scent-mark their territories, a behavior sometimes called pasting, though males paste more than females.
Both sexes of the aardwolf scent-mark their territories, a behavior sometimes called pasting.
When scent-marking, aardwolves first straddle a grass stalk, then rapidly squat while wiping a smear of secretion, approximately 6 millimeters in length, onto the grass. They excrete a yellowish-orange secretion from the anal gland that turns black with oxidation upon exposure to the atmosphere.
Both sexes scent-mark, although males mark more frequently than females, pasting on average more than two times per 100 meters.
Scent-marking is a behavior shared with other hyaenids.
• Image | © Neil McIntosh, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY 2.0)
• Sources | (Apps, Richardson, & Pretorius, 1989; Koehler & Richardson, 1990; Kruuk & Sands, 1972; Nel & Bothma, 1983; Richardson, 1985; Richardson, 1987a)
