valich: Olfactory sensitivity in bears

[rigga]

valich this question is for you in particular because from previous postings you have displayed in depth knowledge on the subject.

However, I will be glad to get informatin from anybody else.

I am looking for the following information, for either brown or american black bears.

1. Number of functional odorant receptor genes

2. Surface area of olfactory epithelium

3. Olfactory receptor cells

4. Olfactory bulb size

I have been able to locate studies that supply the answers for humans, rats, bloodhounds, and even some birds. However, I cannot find the stats for bears. There are plenty of people claiming that bears have the keenest sense of smell on earth; that it's up to 7 times stronger than a bloodhound's. There are even amazing stories circulating about how well they can smell, yet there are no numbers to verify such claims.

If you know the answers, please include your source. Thanks!

 

[Xylene]

Rigga, here's some sources for you to look at;

http://www.americanbear.org/senses.htm

http://sectionhiker.com/2008/04/11/bears_sense_of_smell/.

http://www.bowhunting.net/bearhunting.net/bear2.html.

Hope they're helpful...

 

[rigga]

Thanks Xylene. I have seen these pages, and asked them for their sources. Section hiker was actually insulted, and thought I was questioning his intelligence. I just need to see the actual research for my purposes.

 

[sectionhiker]

Section hiker was actually insulted, and thought I was questioning his intelligence.

No, I wasn't insulted.