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Who nose the borzoi? Turbinal skeleton in a dolichocephalic dog breed (Canis lupus familiaris)

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Abstract

The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) shows a high intraspecific morphological diversity in its facial shape with a less well-known effect of different snout length types on the intranasal structures, i.e. the turbinal skeleton. Sighthounds are supposed to have a less developed sense of smell in favor of their visual abilities. It has been proposed that within the small space of a sighthound’s slender snout the turbinals are less in number and reduced. In a recent ethological study the English greyhound failed at an odor-discrimination task. To test this hypothesis we performed a morphological and morphometric analysis of the turbinal skeleton in the borzoi as a member of the sighthound group based on high resolution computed tomography. For comparison we included saluki, German shepherd and Eurasian wolf in our study; borzoi and German shepherd are represented by different ontogenetic stages. Histological serial sections of a prenatal whippet were investigated to confirm identification of single turbinals. In order to elucidate the proportions and complexity of the turbinal skeleton we applied a new morphometric approach. Our results clearly show no significant difference in the number of turbinals in all investigated specimens but an unexpected high number of interturbinals in the sighthounds in comparison to the German shepherd and the wolf, a large surface area and a high surface density and turbinal complexity. Consequently, the turbinal morphology of the borzoi and most probably the sighthound group in general clearly shows no skeletal evidence for a reduced olfactory sense. Thus, our study demonstrates that the bony turbinals alone cannot provide a proxy for olfactory abilities in dogs. The epithelium, the olfactory receptors with their corresponding genes, the brain, and the ethology need to be considered as well when analyzing a species’ olfactory performance.

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Abbreviations

AE:

exterior surface area

ALB:

area of length and breadth of snout

AT:

turbinal surface area

BOR:

borzoi

BZB:

bizygomatic breadth

C:

upper canine

DOL:

dolichocephalic

dP2-4:

deciduous upper premolar 2-4

ep:

epiturbinal of eth-moturbinal I

et:

ethmoturbinal

etr:

ethmoturbinal recess

EW:

Eurasian wolf

f:

frontal

ft:

frontoturbinal

ftr:

frontoturbinal recess

GLS:

greatest length of skull

GSD:

German shepherd

IAE:

index exterior surface area

IAT:

index turbinal surface area

IBL:

index breadth to length of skull

IFB:

index facial length to length of braincase

IOB:

interorbital breadth

it:

interturbinal

it:

prominent interturbinal homologous between all individuals

j:

jugal

lac:

lacrimal

LBC:

length of braincase

lh:

lamina horizontalis

LPII:

length of palate II

ls:

lamina semicircularis

lt:

lamina terminalis

ltp:

lamina transversalis posterior

lv:

lamina verticalis

M1-2:

upper molar 1-2

MES:

mesaticephalic

[MfN]:

alternative labelling of mammal collection at Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany

MNHN:

Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France

mt:

maxilloturbinal

mx:

maxillary

mxr:

maxillary recess

mxs:

maxillary sinus

n:

nasal

NMBE:

Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern, Switzerland

nd:

nasopharyngeal duct

NLII:

nasal length II

ns:

nasal septum

nt:

nasoturbinal

P2-4:

upper premolar 2-4

pa:

pars anterior(etI)

pl:

palate

pmx:

praemaxillary

pn:

paries nasi

pp:

pars posterior(etI)

upr:

uncinate process

SDEN:

surface density

SMF:

Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Germany

TC:

turbinal complexity

tn:

tectum nasi

WH:

whippet

ZMBMAM:

mammal collection of Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany

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  1. Abteilung Messelforschung und Mammalogie, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Franziska Wagner & Irina Ruf

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  1. Franziska Wagner
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  2. Irina Ruf
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Correspondence to Franziska Wagner.

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Wagner, F., Ruf, I. Who nose the borzoi? Turbinal skeleton in a dolichocephalic dog breed (Canis lupus familiaris). Mamm Biol 94, 106–119 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2018.06.005

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