Reconstructing extinct species' sense of smell

Determining how well extinct animals could smell

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, Quentin Martinez describes a reconstruction of olfactory capabilities in extinct mammals.

In this episode, we cover:

•[00:00] Introduction

•[01:14] Evolutionary biologist Quentin Martinez tell why we want to reconstruct olfaction in extinct animals.

•[02:35] He introduces the olfactory bulb endocast, or space within the skull that contained the olfactory bulb, and explains why it's important in evaluating olfaction in extinct animals.

•[04:24] Martinez talks about studying the genomics of chemoreceptor genes, in addition to the bony structure of the olfactory bulb endocast.

•[05:23] He tells about the results of the study.

•[07:46] Martinez lists possible insights from reconstructing extinct animals' olfaction.

•[08:53] He lists the caveats and limitations of the study.

•[10:16] Conclusion.