Cited research: Curr. Biol. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2010.04.053 (2010)
Do sharks track their prey by steering in the direction of the nostril that sniffed the stronger prey odour?
To find out, Jayne Gardiner at the University of South Florida in Tampa and Jelle Atema of Boston University in Massachusetts fitted eight smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis) with headgear that delivered squid odour to each nostril. When they presented greatly diluted odour to one nostril half a second before delivering full-strength scent to the other, the animals turned towards the side receiving the first, albeit weaker, stimulus, suggesting that timing trumps concentration differences.
This makes sense, as odour concentration gradients are not smooth, but chaotic plumes of uneven concentration. J.F.
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For a longer story on this research, see http://go.nature.com/Z5bGmT
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Biology: Sniffer sharks. Nature 465, 848 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/465848a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/465848a
