# Communal latrines act as potentially important communication centers in ocelots Leopardus pardalis

> On a small island in the Panama Canal, ocelots keep in touch through shared latrines tucked under tree buttresses. Camera traps and DNA from scats showed that most latrines were used by several ocelots of both sexes, and one was visited by 17 different animals over six years. The latrines seem to work as message boards: the cats never met there, but each could have “read” the scent of up to 14 others.

Summary by Kersey Lawrence, Original Wisdom. Updated 9 November 2026. Page: https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2015-rodgers-giacalone-communal-latrines-act-potentially/

## Citation and access

- **Authors:** Torrey W. Rodgers, Jacalyn Giacalone, Edward J. Heske, Natalie C. Pawlikowski and Robert L. Schooley
- **Year published:** 2015
- **Journal or source:** Mammalian Biology
- **Full citation:** Rodgers, T. W., Giacalone, J., Heske, E. J., Pawlikowski, N. C. and Schooley, R. L. 2015. Communal latrines act as potentially important communication centers in ocelots Leopardus pardalis. Mammalian Biology 80(5): 380–384.
- **DOI:** 10.1016/j.mambio.2015.05.004
- **Access status:** Publisher link only
- **Where to find it:** https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2015.05.004

## Tags

- **Species:** Mammals > Ocelot
- **Region:** North America > Panama
- **Tracking:** Scat; Sign surveys; Tracking; Tracks and signs identification; Urine
- **Behaviour and ecology:** Behaviour; Communication
- **Methods and technology:** Camera traps; Chi-square test; Descriptive statistics; DNA; Mann–Whitney U test
- **Data type:** New field data
- **Observer qualification:** Not reported
- **Discipline:** Behaviour and ecology; Wildlife tracking
- **Year published:** 2015

## Detailed keywords

- **Species:** Studied: ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). Other carnivores on the island, not studied: tayra (Eira barbara), white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) and crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus); puma (Puma concolor) and jaguar (Panthera onca) visit the island now and then but are not resident. Genetic markers came from the domestic cat (Felis catus). Communal latrines in other cats, discussed from the literature: bobcat (Lynx rufus), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), Geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi), Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita), pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo) and wildcat (Felis silvestris).
- **Location and habitat:** Barro Colorado Island (BCI), a 1.54 km² island in Gatun Lake, Panama Canal waterway, Republic of Panama, part of the 54 km² Barro Colorado Nature Monument, with a research station run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Hilly tropical moist forest up to 165 m above sea level; mean temperature 27 °C; about 2600 mm of rain a year, 90% from May to November. Latrines were in cavities or under buttresses of large trees, under buttresses of fallen trees, or under human structures, mostly sheltered from above and on bare or hard ground.
- **Topics:** scent marking; communal latrines; olfactory communication networks; urine spraying, sniffing and defecation at latrines; differences between males and females; breeding condition and estrus; dominance among males; territorial boundaries; latrine site choice and scent persistence; scat decomposition by termites, ants and microbes; individual identification from spot patterns and from genotypes; sex identification; comparing camera trapping with noninvasive genetics.
- **Statistics or models:** Descriptive statistics (means and ranges of individuals per latrine per year); chi-square test (behaviour by sex); Mann–Whitney test (camera trapping versus genetics); Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and probability of identity, P(ID) and P(ID)sibs, calculated in GenAlEx; communication networks drawn from visits to the same latrine within 10 days of one another. Inconsistency in the paper: it says 13 latrines (72%) were used by more than one ocelot and “the remaining 5 (18%)” by only one, but 5 of 18 is 28%. The paper also says most latrines were monitored for “a portion of the year (>4 months)”, while the main survey period was 99 days (just over 3 months); “<4 months” may have been meant.
- **Data type:** New field data. Latrine searches, scat collection and most camera trapping ran for 99 days, from 29 January to 6 May 2012. Four cameras stayed on latrines longer: 81 days in 2008–2011, 344 days in 2012–2014, 554 days in 2012–2014 and 861 days in 2008–2014.

## Synopsis

### 1. What they did

Ocelots live alone and at low density, so they rarely meet. Like many solitary carnivores, they may rely on scent marks that last long after the animal has gone. Ocelots use latrines, places where they repeatedly leave urine and scat, and several ocelots of both sexes often use the same latrine. The researchers asked how many ocelots share each latrine and how much chance there is for them to exchange information there.

They worked on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, where ocelots live at extremely high density.

- Finding latrines. Five active latrines were already known. The team walked more than 510 km of transects on and off trail across the island and found 13 more, 18 in all.

- Collecting scats. All scats at each latrine were collected, and latrines were revisited every 4 to 7 days to collect new ones and check cameras.

- Genetics. DNA from the scats confirmed the species, identified individuals (from four genetic markers) and identified their sex.

- Camera traps. Cameras at 16 latrines recorded which ocelots visited (individuals told apart by their spot patterns, males by their visible testicles) and what they did: sniffing, spraying urine or defecating.

- Potential for communication. Two ocelots were counted as able to “communicate” if they visited the same latrine within 10 days of each other. The authors chose 10 days as a cautious time for scent to last, since the strong urine smell at ocelot latrines can be noticed by the human nose for weeks.

### 2. What they found

Genetics

- 63 scats were collected from 18 latrines; 55 (87%) were confirmed as ocelot (the rest failed to amplify).

- 43 scats gave complete genotypes: 12 different ocelots (6 males and 6 females), from 16 latrines.

- On average, genetics recorded 1.63 ocelots per latrine per year (range 1 to 5).

Camera traps

- Cameras recorded 353 ocelot visits at 16 latrines by 25 different ocelots (14 males and 11 females). Males made 62% of visits.

- Ocelots sniffed on every visit, sprayed urine on 65% and defecated on 22%. Males sprayed more often than females (73% versus 52% of visits), and females defecated more often than males (27% versus 19%).

- Cameras recorded 2.85 ocelots per latrine per year on average (range 1 to 9). At 14 of the 16 latrines with both methods, cameras identified more individuals than genetics, because genetics only picks up ocelots that defecate, while cameras also catch those that only sniff or spray.

Shared latrines

- 13 of the 18 latrines (72%) were used by more than one ocelot. With both methods together, each latrine was used by 3.0 ocelots per year on average (range 1 to 9), and shared latrines by 3.45 (range 2 to 9).

- One latrine, monitored on and off for nearly 6 years, was visited by 17 different ocelots: 11 males and 6 females.

- Most latrines were only watched for part of the year, so the true numbers are likely higher.

Potential for communication

- A male could potentially exchange scent messages with 5.9 other ocelots on average (range 2 to 14), and a female with 4.5 (range 3 to 12).

- Two ocelots were never photographed at a latrine at the same time.

Where latrines were

Latrines were in conspicuous, sheltered places: cavities or overhanging buttresses of large trees, under the buttresses of fallen trees, or under human structures. Most were protected from above, keeping scat and urine out of the rain and sun, and most were on bare or hard ground rather than leaf litter. Termites, ants and microbes seem to find scats more easily on soil and leaves, and can eat most of a scat within a few days.

### 3. What they concluded

- Communal latrines are important centers of scent communication for ocelots. The potential is probably even greater than measured, because many latrines in the dense forest were surely never found.

- Latrines seem to work as message boards, not meeting places, since ocelots were never seen there together.

- Marking territory boundaries seems an unlikely purpose, because so many ocelots used each latrine. Advertising breeding condition seems likely, since some visiting females appeared to be in estrus in camera photos. Females may also use latrines to recognize favoured mates, and males may use them to signal dominance to other males without fighting, which may matter especially in this crowded population where male ranges overlap more than expected by chance. The authors could not say for certain which purposes latrines serve.

- Latrine sites seem chosen so that scent lasts longer in the wet tropical forest.

- Communal latrines seem especially common in the genus Leopardus, which makes these cats good candidates for further research on scent marking. The next step is to test what information scent marks carry.

### 4. How tracking was or was not used

Finding latrines was the heart of the fieldwork: the team walked more than 510 km of transects across the island searching for ocelot latrines, places marked with scat and urine. The paper does not describe how latrines were recognized or what signs led the team to them. Scats were collected at every latrine, and their species was then confirmed by DNA (87% were ocelot; the remaining 13% failed to amplify, so their species is unknown). No following of tracks is reported. Individuals and sex were identified from camera photos and DNA, not from tracks.

### 5. Tracker or observer certification

Not reported. The paper does not say who searched for latrines or how they were trained. George Smallwood is thanked for field assistance, and James Lyko and Charles Kontos, Jr. for help with photo identification of ocelots.

### 6. Other technologies, skills or innovations

- Trail cameras (Reconyx RC55) at latrines, recording visits and behaviour.

- Noninvasive genetics from scat: species identification with a short mitochondrial DNA fragment and the online tool DNA Surveillance Carnivora; individual identification from four microsatellite markers first developed for the domestic cat, with repeated genotyping to avoid errors; sex identification with a Y-chromosome marker.

- Combining the two methods: cameras catch ocelots that only sniff or spray, while genetics confirms identity and sex from scat.

### 7. Implications for conservation (from the paper)

- Ocelots are listed as least concern overall, but many populations, especially in the north of their range, are threatened or endangered because of habitat loss.

- Advances in camera trapping, combined with genetic identification of individuals and sex from scat, offer better ways to study scent communication in carnivores, especially species that use communal latrines.

### 8. Implications for tracking (Original Wisdom's observations)

_These are Original Wisdom's observations, not the authors'._

- The study gives trackers a picture of what an ocelot latrine looks like and where to look for one: sheltered spots under tree buttresses, fallen trees or structures, on bare or hard ground, with a strong urine smell that can last for weeks.

- A single scat at a shared latrine may come from any of several ocelots, of either sex; one latrine was used by 17 different animals. Scats in leaf litter may disappear within days, which affects how long a scat can be found.

- Sniffing was recorded on every visit, yet sniffing leaves no scat and no urine. Visits by animals that only sniff can go unrecorded unless there are other signs or a camera, which is why the cameras recorded more ocelots than the scat genetics did.

## Cite this summary

Lawrence, K. 2026. Summary of: Communal latrines act as potentially important communication centers in ocelots Leopardus pardalis (Rodgers and Giacalone et al., 2015). Original Wisdom, Tracking Literature. https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2015-rodgers-giacalone-communal-latrines-act-potentially/