Olfactory system, rabbit

Hamada, S., Senzaki, K., Hamaguchi-Hamada, K. et al. (1998). Localization of 5-HT2a receptor in rat cerebral cortex and olfactory system revealed by immuno-histochemistry using two antibodies raised in rabbit and chicken. Molec. Brain Res. 54, 199-211. 

Certain neurophysiological experiments in the tortoise and the rabbit implied that the trigeminal system behaved unlike the olfactory system in certain important temporal properties (7 ). 

Fig. 2.9 Nasal chemoreceptive systems (Terminalis MOS and AOS) in neonate Rabbit. CP = cribriform plate F = forebrain GT = ganglion terminale NT(SNT) = Nervus terminalis ON = olfactory nvs. and F = forebrain (after Huber and Guild, 1913).

Discussions of allometry (e.g., Schmidt-Nielsen, 1984) focus on the mechanical consequences of size differences. The skeletal system changes with increased size because of the added stress of increased weight. The heart increases with size because of the increased demands of pumping a greater volume of blood. In these examples, the functional consequences of scaling seem obvious. When the number of receptor neurons contributes to the performance of a sensory system, the effect of changes in size seem less clear. This conundrum had not escaped earlier researchers who wondered how adult humans, with an olfactory epithelial surface area of lOcm, are considered microsmatic while a rabbit, with 9.3cm of olfactory epithelium are considered macrosmatic (Moulton and Beidler, 1967). 

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