Why is a dog’s sense of smell so keen?

📅 👁 4311 views 💬 6 replies Respiratory System
A

Expert Answer

A dog’s keen smell comes from many olfactory cells on its nose, about 40 times more than in humans, and it can distinguish over 20,000 different scents, so its smell is very sharp.

In addition, a dog’s nose surface has many folds and a layer of olfactory mucosa, and the olfactory cells sit on this folded mucosa; when the dog tracks a scent, the mucosa secretes mucus to help it tell scents apart better.

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