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　　Chances are you've never seen a binturong.

　　It's a tree-dwelling mammal about the size of araccoon that's native to Southeast Asia.

　　But if you've ever been to the movies, you'd befamiliar with their scent.

　　That's because binturongs smell like freshly cookedpopcorn.

　　And now, in a major advance in research connecting animal odors to human recreationalvenues, researchers know why.

　　In the wild, binturongs, also called bearcats, are thought to spend most of their time alone.

　　So to communicate with potential mates—or rivals—they leave behind aromatic messages.

　　Although to you and me their musk evokes a matinee, to other animals it reads pure binturong.

　　But previous studies of the animals' scent glands failed to find chemicals that could accountfor the distinctive stank.

　　Desperate for an answer, the researchers opted to peruse some pee.

　　They ever-so-gently squeezed 33 sedated binturongs at a North Caroline wildlife sanctuary toproduce urine for analysis.

　　And they discovered that the samples contained a compound called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, or2-AP—which is the very same chemical that lends its distinctive scent to popcorn, as well as tosome rice and breads.

　　The finding is served up in the journal Naturwissenschaften, or The Science of Nature.

　　Popcorn gets its 2-AP from the Maillard reaction, chemistry that occurs as corn kernels heatup.

　　But for bearcats, who don't have access to an air popper, it's probably the bacteria present ontheir fur or in their intestines that help cook up their signature scent—the researchersconfirmed that the animals don't get their 2-AP from their diet, which, in captivity, includeskibbles and mice.

　　When binturongs go wee, they tend to soak their tails and feet, which ensures that they leavebehind a trail of odiferous information about their species, sex, and reproductive readiness.

　　Of course, if you find yourself in binturong country, remember: that ain't popcorn you smell.

　　So don't lick your fingers.