Smell, also called olfaction, the detection and identification by sensory organs of airborne chemicals. The concept of smell, as it applies to humans, becomes less distinct when invertebrates and lower vertebrates (fish and amphibians) are considered, because many lower animals detect chemicals in the environment by means of receptors in various locations on the body, and no invertebrate possesses a chemoreceptive structure resembling the vertebrate nasal cavity. For this reason, many authorities prefer to regard smell as distance chemoreception and taste as contact chemoreception.
Olfaction by air-breathing vertebrates depends primarily on chemically sensitive nerves with endings in the lining (epithelium) of the nasal cavity. Mammals such as carnivores, which rely heavily on the sense of smell for locating food or for warning against predators, have intricately curled turbinal bones (which support the nasal epithelium), providing greater surface area, thus increasing olfactory sensitivity.
In addition to the nasal epithelium, Jacobson’s organ, located in the roof of the mouth, also serves for chemoreception in some animals. See also chemoreception; nose; perception.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
-
chemoreception: SmellThe olfactory system is concerned with the detection of airborne or waterborne (in aquatic animals) chemicals that may be present in very low concentrations. Olfactory receptor cells are present in very large numbers (millions), forming an olfactory epithelium within the nasal cavity. Each receptor…
-
reproductive behaviour: Olfactory cluesResearchers have now become aware of the enormous amount of information that is passed between animals by chemical means. Well known are the urine, feces, and scent markings employed by most mammals to delimit their breeding territories and to advertise their sexual state.…
-
prenatal development: Olfactory organPaired thickenings of ectoderm near the tip of the head infold and produce olfactory pits. These expand into sacs in which only a relatively small area becomes olfactory in function. Some epithelial cells in these regions remain as inert supporting elements. Others become…
-
cetacean: SmellThe sense of smell can be defined as those sensations carried from nose to brain by the olfactory nerve. Toothed whales have lost the olfactory nerve, so by definition they are incapable of smelling. On the other hand, they do use "quasi-olfaction" (
see below ).…
ADDITIONAL MEDIA
More About Smell
30 references found in Britannica articlesAssorted References
- major treatment
- affected by aging
- development in human embryology
- disturbance during pregnancy
- effect of olfactory intensity
- testing of cranial nerves
function in
fishes
- Chondrichthyes
- Ostariophysi
- Salmoniformes