The animal kingdom constantly serves us new and wondrous discoveries, some of which seem borderline alien.
Unfortunately, for many of us here, we only get to see the likes of whale sharks, kangaroos, black mambas and other animals on TV or in an encyclopedia.
However, there are animals closer to home that possess amazing characteristics as well, like dogs – animals famous for their powerful noses.
Having long gained the title of being “man’s best friend” due to their loving and loyal nature, it has been said that among a dog's many gifts is their ability to separate smells using different nostrils.
Is this true?
Verdict:
TRUE
This is in fact true, as “sniffing lateralisation” allows dogs to detect smells separately with each nostril
Dogs sniff primarily with the right nostril when they begin sniffing. For familiar or non-aversive scents such as food, they tend to switch to the left nostril. However, for aversive, threatening or arousing scents, they stick with the right nostril.
This has to do with the processing pathways in the brain; the right hemisphere processes novel information, while the left hemisphere controls behavioral responses to familiar stimuli.
Since dogs move their nostrils independently, they can even determine the direction of an odour and use their sense of smell like a compass.
Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to about six million in us, and the part of a dog's brain that is devoted to analysing smells is about 40 times greater than ours.
A dog’s sense of smell is powerful enough to detect substances at concentrations of one part per trillion; this is equivalent to a single drop of liquid in 20 Olympic-size swimming pools.
So, the next time your dog greets you and sniffs your feet, you can guess which nostril it is using without a doubt.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.uaf.edu/news/a-
https://vcahospitals.com/know-
https://www.petmd.com/dog/
