scent marking
the act by a nonhuman animal of depositing odorants on a substrate, often from specialized scent glands that produce them. Scent glands are commonly found in the anogenital region, in the axilla, in the suprapubic region, and around the mouth. Scent marking provides cues about species, sex, reproductive status, and dominance status that can remain on or diffuse slowly from a substrate after the marking individual has left.