How Pangolins Communicate: Scent, Sound, and Body Language

Pangolins are among the most solitary mammals on Earth. They forage alone, sleep alone, and spend much of their lives in silence. Yet solitary does not mean socially disconnected. Pangolins maintain an elaborate communication system built on chemical signals, subtle vocalisations, and physical postures that allow them to mark territory, find mates, raise young, and warn off predators — all without the social structures that most mammals rely on.

The Dominant Channel: Chemical Communication

For an animal with poor eyesight that operates exclusively at night, smell is everything. Pangolins communicate primarily through chemical signals deposited as scent marks using urine, faeces, and secretions from specialised anal glands. These marks serve as a slow, persistent broadcast system — messages left on tree trunks, burrow entrances, and foraging routes that can persist for days.

Scent Marking Behaviour

All pangolin species engage in trail and site marking. They deposit urine and anal gland secretions around burrows, feeding areas, and travel routes. This behaviour serves multiple functions: establishing territorial boundaries, signalling reproductive status, and maintaining awareness of neighbouring individuals without direct contact.

The giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) possesses particularly large anal glands, and researchers studying camera trap footage in Cameroon’s Dja Biosphere Reserve have documented possible scent-marking behaviour at burrow sites. Temminck’s ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) exhibits similar patterns, with GPS-tracked individuals in the Kalahari maintaining home ranges averaging 6.5 km² — territories that are defined and maintained through scent rather than physical confrontation.

The Muscone Discovery

This discovery is significant because it demonstrates that pangolin chemical communication operates at a molecular level comparable to other well-studied mammals. Most social interactions of Sunda pangolins are believed to be scent-based, with urine and anal gland secretions forming the primary communication medium.

The Pangolin Brain: Built for Smell

The importance of olfaction in pangolin life is reflected in their neuroanatomy. A multi-part study of the tree pangolin (Manis tricuspis) brain, published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, revealed a typically mammalian olfactory system with one notable adaptation: the glomeruli in the main olfactory bulb measure approximately 200 micrometres in diameter, larger than those observed in most other mammals.

Larger glomeruli may enhance the animal’s ability to discriminate between chemical signals — a critical advantage for a solitary nocturnal species that must locate food, detect predators, and identify potential mates using smell alone. The overall olfactory system occupies a proportion of the brain typical for mammals, but the structural refinements suggest specialisation for processing complex scent information.

Vocalisations: Quiet but Present

Pangolins are not silent. They produce a repertoire of low-volume sounds that serve distinct communicative functions:

• Hissing — the most commonly reported vocalisation, produced when threatened or disturbed. Accompanied by defensive curling, it serves as a warning signal.
• Puffing and huffing — produced during agitation or physical exertion. Often heard during handling in rescue situations.
• Soft grunts — used during courtship, with males producing gentle vocalisations while pursuing a receptive female.
• Snorting — associated with exploration and environmental assessment.

A study of captive Sunda pangolins documented that courtship is characterised by frequent vocalising by both sexes, combined with urine marking and olfactory inspection. This suggests that vocal signals complement chemical communication during the critical mate-selection period.

Body Language and Physical Communication

Defensive Postures

The pangolin’s most recognisable behaviour — curling into a tight ball — is primarily defensive communication. By tucking the head and limbs beneath the body and presenting only keratin scales to a potential predator, the pangolin broadcasts an unambiguous message: this target is not worth the effort. The behaviour is so effective that large predators, including lions and leopards, often abandon attempts to penetrate the armour.

A comprehensive ethogram developed from studying Indian pangolins (Manis crassicaudata) at a conservation breeding centre in Odisha catalogued 27 distinct behaviours across seven categories: stationary body positions, locomotory patterns, maintenance behaviours, explorative behaviours, defensive behaviours, reproductive and social behaviours, and others.

Mother-Pup Communication

The most sustained physical contact in a pangolin’s life occurs between mother and pup. Newborn pangolins ride on the mother’s tail base or back during foraging trips for three to four months after birth. This constant tactile connection serves as a communication channel: the pup learns foraging routes, safe refuges, and feeding techniques through direct physical contact with the mother.

When threatened, the mother curls around her pup, using her scaled body as a protective barrier. Olfactory recognition reinforces the bond — mothers and pups identify each other through scent, which is essential for reuniting after any brief separation.

Courtship: Where All Channels Converge

The mating period is the one time in a pangolin’s life when all communication channels are active simultaneously. Males track females by following scent trails deposited through urine and anal gland secretions. Upon locating a receptive female, the male engages in a multi-day pursuit that involves vocalisations, scent marking, and olfactory inspection of the female’s genitalia.

A 2023 study of captive Malayan pangolins (Manis javanica), published in Scientific Reports, documented two peak mating times: between 19:00 and 22:00, and between 01:00 and 03:00. These defined temporal windows suggest that pangolin courtship follows a structured schedule, with both partners synchronising their activity through chemical and vocal cues.

Comparisons with Other Solitary Mammals

Pangolin communication shares features with other solitary, nocturnal mammals. Like armadillos — another scaled, burrowing, insectivorous mammal — pangolins compensate for poor vision with a highly developed sense of smell. Armadillos similarly use scent glands on their face and feet to mark territories during breeding season, and rely on olfaction as their primary sense for identifying both predators and potential mates.

Solitary carnivores such as leopards and wolverines also depend on scent marking as an indirect method of conspecific communication, with main functions including territory assertion and mate selection. The pangolin system, however, appears uniquely refined: the combination of muscone-based pheromones, oversized olfactory glomeruli, and a behavioural repertoire of 27 documented postures and actions represents a sophisticated communication toolkit for an animal that spends most of its life alone.