The bear is the animal with the best sense of smell, and bears have been known to find food sources that are 18 miles (28.9 km) away. In fact, bears have a sense of smell that is estimated to be more than seven times stronger than that of a bloodhound, the breed of dog that is used for hunting by scent. Although the specific area of the bear's brain that is used for recognizing scents is proportional to that of the same area in other animals, bears are thought to have such a strong sense of smell because of the size of the nasal mucous membrane in their heads. It is about 100 times larger than the nasal mucous membrane area in humans.
More about animals’ sense of smell:
- Elephants can smell water at distances of up to 12 miles (19.31 km).
- Although sharks are the fish with the largest olfactory bulbs, which are used for detecting scent, sharks do not have a significantly greater sense of smell than other fish.
- Snakes detect scents by using their tongues to transfer air particles to an organ inside their mouth known as Jacobson’s organ, which is used for recognizing smells.
