The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) have many specialized skin glands, the secretions of which are involved in semiochemical communication.

The tarsal glands have a tuft of hair which is specially adapted to extract certain chemical compounds from the animal's urine.

For example, in the black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), the major constituent of the tarsal gland secretion is a lipid, (Z)-6-dodecen-4-olide.

In white-tailed deer, the presence and concentration of certain chemical compounds in the urine depend on the season, gender, reproductive status and social rank of the animals.

This fact, along with the observation of rub-urination behavior in this animal (at least in the male) indicates that urine probably plays a role in olfactory communication in deer.

Like herpestids it has a perianal skin gland inside an anal sac which surrounds the anus like a pocket.