Canis Familiaris | Olfactory legends

Posted by Maanavendra Roy December 12, 2022

Canis Familiaris | Olfactory legends

We humans have five senses to perceive the world around us as it is. Sense is way of perception of and which gives information about your surroundings. Some animals even have more than five senses for instance pigeons have Magneto-reception and electric eels have Electro-reception. Our main senses are :-

Photo - reception
Auditory
Somato - sensory
Chemo - sensory

Taste and smell are so similar in function that they both are categorized as Chemo-sensory mode of reception.

Smell is the oldest evolved sense seen in living beings.

When air is inspired it travels through the nasal cavity (through nose) and activates the olfactory neuron. The inner lining of nostrils is covered with "Olfactory epithelial" tissue consisting of many Olfactory neurons ( with one of their ends exposed ).Each of which has one odor receptors. There about 6 to 10 million olfactory neurons in each nostril. Which one odor receptor attached to each. These odor receptors are of different types and many in number. They each are in a specific 'state' (Physio-chemical) which gets activated when contacted with specific volatile molecules of compounds in the air. When activated these fire and send signals to the brain which then deciphers what it is and based on former experiences ( and gives our conscious brain a feeling towards it, it's just different when you smell a flower and a can of petrol ).

Dogs on the other hand have up to 300 millions Olfactory neurons and not just many in number but types also. These different combinations and insane amount of Olfactory neurons is what makes their sense of smell so sensitive and accurate. They can detect a single particle among trillions. Their sense of smell is said to be 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than humans. Dogs breathe in through the nostrils and breathe out through holes or slits at the side of the nose. This prevents mixing of inhaled and exhaled air and also creates an air current which in turns supplies more particles (More volatile molecules to detect ; more smell) towards it's nose. This method is so effective as seen in dogs. When dogs are low on scent they sniff quickly about 5 times per second to create that current and catch up on that scent.

Dogs are most and oldest domesticated animals by humans. Dogs are used in patrolling, Detecting or identifying criminals with aid of smell and also used in the medical field to notice or recognize cancer in early stages that which otherwise is undetectable even with our best technology. Disease like Lung and Bladder cancer go usually unnoticed by when tested in the early stages, they are only seen in critical stages when it is too late for cure or prevention.

A typical Patrol dog

A Medical Service Dog (USA, California)

This is just one out of many sense and abilities of a typical dog ( Excluding extensive breeds and cross-breeds). A dog can also .......................................