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Urination
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==Other species== {{See also|Scent marking|Self-anointing in animals#Ungulates}} {{multiple image | footer = Urination postures of mammals | total_width = 440 | perrow = 3 | image1 = Bos taurus taurus peeing.jpg | alt1 = Cow | image2 = African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) bull ... (50664294847).jpg | alt2 = African buffalo | image3 = White rhinocerus spraying (15326385621).jpg | alt3 = White rhinoceros | image4 = Busch Gardens 2009 (76).jpg | alt4 = Female zebra | image5 = Urinating horse male.jpg | alt5 = Male horse | image6 = Lobo Guará urinating on tree.jpg | alt6 = Maned wolf }} While the primary purpose of urination is the same across the [[Kingdom (biology)|animal kingdom]], urination often serves a social purpose beyond the expulsion of waste material.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Gosling L. M. | year = 1982 | title = A reassessment of the function of scent marking in territories | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230317056 | format = PDF | journal = Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie | volume = 60 | issue = 2| pages = 89–118 | doi = 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1982.tb00492.x | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084413/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leonard_Gosling/publication/230317056_A_Reassessment_of_the_Function_of_Scent_Marking_in_Territories/links/59dcd8b4a6fdcca56e35e24c/A-Reassessment-of-the-Function-of-Scent-Marking-in-Territories.pdf | archive-date = 27 March 2018 }}</ref><ref name="Doty2012">{{cite book|author=Richard Doty|title=Mammalian Olfaction, Reproductive Processes, and Behavior|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWwCnplyxYYC&q=urine+OR+urination+OR+urinating|date=2 December 2012|publisher=Elsevier Science|isbn=978-0-323-15450-5}}</ref> In dogs and other animals, urination can [[territorial marking|mark territory]] or express submissiveness.<ref name="Estes1991">{{cite book|author=Richard Estes|title=The Behavior Guide to African Mammals: Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0520080858|url-access=registration|quote=urine.|year=1991|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-08085-0}}</ref> In small [[rodent]]s such as rats and mice, it marks familiar paths. The urine of animals of differing [[physiology]] or [[sex]] sometimes has different characteristics. For example, the urine of birds and reptiles is whitish, consisting of a pastelike suspension of uric acid crystals, and discharged with the [[feces]] of the animal via the [[cloaca]], whereas mammals' urine is a yellowish colour, with mostly [[urea]] instead of uric acid, and is discharged via the urethra, separately from the [[feces]]. Some animals' (example: [[carnivore]]s') urine possesses a strong odour, especially when it is used to mark territory or {{clarify span|communicate in other ways.|date=February 2013}}{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} {{anchor|Dog-like mammals (''Canidae'')|Canidae|Felidae|Dog marking}} [[Felidae|Felids]]<ref name="Schulz"/><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4899-4656-0_5 |chapter=Scent marking |title=Ethology of Mammals |date=1968 |pages=104–133 |isbn=978-1-4899-4658-4 | vauthors = Ewer RF }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sunquist |first1=Mel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IF8nDwAAQBAJ&dq=felids+spraying+urine&pg=PA414 |title=Wild Cats of the World |last2=Sunquist |first2=Fiona |date=2017-05-15 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-51823-7 |language=en}}</ref> and [[canid]]s <ref name="MechBoitani2010">{{cite book |author1=L. David Mech |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_mXHuSSbiGgC&q=urine&pg=PA85 |title=Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation |author2=Luigi Boitani |date=1 October 2010 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-51698-1 |page=85 |access-date=23 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Henry |first1=J. David |title=The Use of Urine Marking in the Scavenging Behavior of the Red Fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') |journal=Behaviour |date=1977 |volume=61 |issue=1–2 |pages=82–105 |doi=10.1163/156853977X00496 |jstor=4533812 |pmid=869875 }}</ref> scent-mark their territories using urine. [[Wolf communication|Wolves mark their territories]] by urinating in a raised-leg posture and release [[preputial gland]] secretions in their urine. Male [[dog communication|dogs mark their territories]] with urine more frequently than females.<ref name="MechBoitani2010"/> Young cattle can be toilet-trained to urinate in a "latrine" where their urine can be collected for [[wastewater treatment]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dirksen |first1=Neele |last2=Langbein |first2=Jan |last3=Schrader |first3=Lars |last4=Puppe |first4=Birger |last5=Elliffe |first5=Douglas |last6=Siebert |first6=Katrin |last7=Röttgen |first7=Volker |last8=Matthews |first8=Lindsay |title=Learned control of urinary reflexes in cattle to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions |journal=Current Biology |date=September 2021 |volume=31 |issue=17 |pages=R1033–R1034 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.011 |pmid=34520709 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021CBio...31R1033D }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |access-date=2021-09-16 |language=en |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58552651 |title=Cows toilet trained to reduce greenhouse gas emissions |date=14 Sep 2021}}</ref> which could be used to reduce [[greenhouse gas emissions]] from the animals' urine in countries such as the Netherlands, the United States, and New Zealand.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hassan |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pannett |first2=Rachel |title=Cow pee is an environmental problem. But now scientists say calves can be potty-trained |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/15/cows-potty-trained-gas-emissions/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=15 September 2021 }}</ref>
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