Puberty makes teenagers smell like goats.
Teenagers have the scent of goats
Experts have compared the body odours of infants and teenagers and have confirmed that adolescents have their distinct scent of goats, cheese, urine and sweat.
Researchers collected samples sewn into the armpits of clothing worn by 18 teenagers aged 14 to 18 and 18 infants aged between zero and three and an even mix of male and female participants showcased the different smells.
Teenage samples contained higher levels of acids described as "cheesy" and "goat-like" while the infant samples were labelled as "violet-like" and "perfume -like".
The team from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany said: "Body odours contribute differently to interpersonal communication between parents and their offspring at different stages of development.
"Already shortly after birth, infants learn to recognise their mother´s individual odour and parents are able to identify their own infant's body odour, which is preferred over the smell of other infants.
"Body odours of infants are pleasant and rewarding to mothers and, as such, probably facilitate parental affection.
"In contrast, body odours of pubertal children are rated as less pleasant and parents are unable to identify their own child during this developmental stage."