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The contribution of bacterial fermentation to the production of vertebrate scent signals has long been suspected, but there is still relatively little information about the factors driving variation in microbial composition in animal scent secretions. Our study subject, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), is a social mongoose that lives in territorial, family groups and relies heavily on scent for social communication. Unusually in mammalian research, extensive life-history data exist for multiple groups inhabiting the same ecosystem, allowing for a study of both individual variation and group differences in the host’s microbial communities. Using a culture-independent sampling technique, we explored the relationship between a signaler’s sex, age/dominance, genotype or group membership, and the microbiota of its anal scent secretions. We found differences in the microbiota of males and females, but only after the animals had …