It is the southern tamandua, an anteater that lives between Argentina and Venezuela, also nicknamed the “forest skunk”.
The smelliest animal is not the skunk but the southern tamandua or lesser tamandua, an anteater found in South America also known as the “forest skunk”.
Defense strategy. When the tamandua is threatened, it releases an odor from a gland near the base of its tail that is about four times more potent than that of the skunk.
Even the muskox is no joke: during the mating season it emits an intense odor, vaguely similar to musk, which serves to attract females, as well as to mark its territory. The smell can be perceived at great distances, making it one of, if not exactly smelly, among the most odorous animals in the world.
Manure. An intense stench also comes from the skunk bird, i.e. the hoatzin, which is also called, very explicitly, stinking bird. Due to the aromatic compounds in the leaves it consumes and the bacterial fermentation that occurs in the anterior part of the intestine, as happens in ruminants, the hoatzin tastes like manure and is therefore hunted by humans only in cases of extreme hunger.
