Sense of Smell

The Olfactory sense (of smell) of humans is believed to be relatively poor compared to that of great apes. Humans have been shown to have lost the function of >60% of their olfactory receptor genes, perhaps twice as many as have been lost by other hominids. Based on such genomic comparisons, great apes should benefit from a much larger repertoire of functional receptors, but comparative behavioral studies on the olfactory sense of humans and other hominids is lacking. One study has also suggested that the genetic difference is not as great.