Other Animal Sciences Commons^™

Development Of Comprehensive Theoretical Morphospaces For Canine Cranial Morphology, Alexa Ortega, Nicholas Hebdon, Lindsay Waldrop

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Throughout the evolution of the family Canidae, there is a continuous belief that canines have an exceptional olfactory system which allows them to have a heightened sense of smell. Because of this olfactory sophistication, canines have become prevalent as detection animals in the military, homeland security, law enforcement, forensics, and civilian applications. However, while the trait is highly regarded, the exact role of nasal morphology is understudied. We aim to investigate the influences of nasal cavity and internal structure morphology in odor detection. However, nasal structure is a sophisticated morphological target and requires innovative solutions to capture the key variables …