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Forget the evidence for the Big Bang, consign memories of the most Earth-like world outside the solar system to the bin and free your mind of thoughts about the bones of the newly-crowned world's largest dinosaur, Titanosaur.

Because these scientific accomplishments from earlier this year pale in comparison to what might be the most important piece of research of all: why dogs smell each other's behinds.

And it turns out the odd behaviour is more vital than it first appears: it gives the sniffer details on the sniffee's sex, diet, emotional state and more thanks to complex chemical communications.

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A video produced by Washington DC's American Chemical Society reveals the science behind why dogs smell each other's behinds (stock image shown). It's revealed that they do this to find out information about other dogs including the gender, diet and emotional state of the dog being smelled

In a video by Reactions, it's explained how a dog's nose is anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than a human nose.

And when a dog smells the rear end of another, it's actually collecting important information.

The video explains how in 1975, Dr George Preti of the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia examined the anal secretions of dogs and wild coyotes to study this behaviour.

They found that on the rear-end of the dog is an area called the anal sac, which excretes identifying chemicals to other dogs.

One of the glands here is the apocrine gland, which gives the dog its natural smell.

Another called the sebaceous gland also plays a part, which mostly lubricates and waterproofs the skin and hair of mammals.

Why do dogs smell each other's bottoms? Explained!

Dr Preti found that the primary chemical compounds that are released from these glands and produce a dog's aroma are a variety of short-chain acids and something known as trimethylamine.

Trimethylamine is an organic compound that is a product of the decomposition of plants and animals, and is the odour often associated with rotting fish or bad breath. 

The aroma given off by the dog is dependent upon some of the factors mentioned earlier - diet, gender, emotional state and more.

When one dog smells another, it is able to pick up on these finer details and learn information that would otherwise be mostly unavailable. 

But how are dogs able to pick up on these smells over some of the more powerful odours that may come from a dogs excrement?

'You'd think the smell of dog poop would overpower Rover's sensitive smell, but dogs have a second olfactory system in their hyper-sensitive nose called the jacobson's organ,' the narrator explains.

This organ is designed specifically for chemical communication and not for smelling other aromas.

With its own set of nerves to the brain, the organ is able to circumvent other organs in the nose used for smelling and let the dog know the chemical characteristics of the dog it is smelling.

And so, as the video concludes, the reason dogs smell one another isn't for fun but rather they are 'getting to know each other in a special aromatic way.'

Smell ya later: Dogs aren't just smelling each other for fun; the action actually has an important purpose that gives them information about the dog they are sniffing, made possible by the fact that a dog's nose (stock image shown) is anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than a human nose