Avian Olfactory Receptor Gene Repertoires: Evidence For A Well-developed Sense Of Smell In Birds?

Avian olfaction is poorly understood: birds are widely regarded as relying primarily on visual and auditory inputs. Among vertebrates, the sense of smell is mediated by olfactory receptors (ORs). We estimated the number of OR genes in nine bird species that occupy different ecological niches and found that they vary in relation to the area in the brain that is responsible for the processing of olfactory information.

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Filed under: Biology on July 16th, 2008