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For many animals the sense of smell is the keenest one they possess. However this just isn’t true for us. We get colds, we have allergies and other things which limit our olfactory ability. My hypothesis is that what may seem like a liability, is why our eyesight grew so keen and our brains so much larger. This was so we would be better able to comprehend the things we see. But as we all know, sight is more open to interpretation than a smell. There’s really no need to mull over if the food has turned or not, after taking a single whiff.
Another side effect of our lack of smell, is it was another good reason to make Dogs man’s best friend. You’re asleep (that’s the caveman you) and something is creeping up on your sleeping form. You might not notice the scent of your assailant until they are upon you. However, long before they get near enough to you to do you harm, the dog will understand something dangerous is approaching, and will commence to barking. And although dogs are not known for having the greatest sense of smell in the animal kingdom, they are the best when it comes to separating different odors from one another and tracking the one you want them to. Which is great for hunting food or felons.
The sense of smell is called Olfaction and is located in the nose. There special cells or receptors pick up on the scent or scents (bouquet) detected and relay this information to the olfactory bulb located behind the nostrils in the brain. Olfaction often works in tandem with taste. Savor makes the aroma of bacon the bacon we all know. And even if you’re not aware of it, you have the ability to detect the smell of blood relatives. When my youngest was a baby and went to a Parent’s Day Off center twice a week, one of the items they requested was an unwashed shirt worn by one of her parents. She naturally felt calmer and more at ease when surrounded by the aroma of her folks.
Bears have the largest number of receptors in their nose and are considered the land mammal with the best sense of smell. They can detect food many miles away and can locate the odor of a female in heat from an even greater distance. But then a pronounced sense of olfactory ability is true of most mammals. Elephants are particularly adept at locating water, even when underground. Rodents in general have a keen sense of smell, with rats being the best. Rats are so good at detecting different odors because they smell in stereo. With one nostril detecting one scent and the other another. However the strangest of the animal kingdom is the Snake. They smell by tasting the air with their tongue. Then their secret weapon the Jacobson’s organ, located in their mouth, deciphers the fragrance.
And even though we have a stunted sense of smell, nothing else can trigger a memory like it. A whiff of some aroma can immediately carry you back to a particular time and place or even trigger an unremembered emotion. It’s believed that the Olfactory Bulb being close to the two areas of the brain related to emotion and memory, is what causes this to happen. Now what exactly does teen spirit smell like?