The olfactory apparatus of tubenosed birds (Procellariiformes)

Abstract

Nasal anatomy of 8 Procellariiform species indicates that olfaction is a vital sense; differential development has affected the comparative anatomy of the skulls. Ratios of long diameters of olfactory bulbs to cerebral hemispheres vary from about 18% in diving petrels to 40% in snow petrels. Structures peculiar to the order and evidently related to olfaction are tube nostrils and septal accessory olfactory conchae. Actual cell sizes in mucuous membranes of large and small species vary in proportion to body size. Species habits suggest long-range olfactory identification of large-mass odors, and short-range discrimination within a specific milieu.