Work

When to Smell in Stereo

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Recent works have highlighted the use of dual nostril 'stereo' olfaction by a variety of animals. In this work we perform "back of the envelope" calculations to determine when stereo olfaction is useful compared to single nostril 'mono' olfaction. We find that stereo olfaction is advantageous when there are large relative changes in the odour concentration, and when the spatial length scales of correlations in air are large, such as in the boundary layer near surfaces. In other words, stereo olfaction is useful when animals are searching surfaces for olfactory edges, such as when tracking odour trails.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2607.20307

Authors: Tootoonian, Sina, Schaefer, Andreas T.

Institution: The Francis Crick Institute

Topic: Insect Pheromone Research and Control

Subfield: Insect Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Francis Crick Institute, UK Research and Innovation, Cancer Research UK, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Medical Research Council

Awards: G6128985216, G7452696579, G8018945615, G8134652876, G8397712990, NeuroNex: From Odor to Action: Discovering Principles of Olfactory-Guided Natural Behavior

OpenAlex ID: W7170177927

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