> A cloaca is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts of many vertebrate animals.

> All amphibians, reptiles, birds, and a few mammals have this orifice, from which they excrete both urine and feces.

> Mating through the cloaca is known as cloacal copulation, commonly referred to as cloacal kiss.

> The cloacal region is also often associated with a secretory organ, the cloacal gland, which has been implicated in the scent-marking behavior of some reptiles, marsupials, amphibians, and monotremes.