title: The influence of nasal airflow on respiratory and olfactory epithelial distribution in felids.
abstract: The surface area of the maxilloturbinals and fronto-ethmoturbinals is commonly used as an osteological proxy for the respiratory and the olfactory epithelium, respectively. However, this assumption does not fully account for animals with short snouts in which these two turbinal structures significantly overlap, potentially placing fronto-ethmoturbinals in the path of respiratory airflow. In these species, it is possible that anterior fronto-ethmoturbinals are covered with non-sensory (respiratory) epithelium instead of olfactory epithelium. In this study, we analyzed the distribution of olfactory and non-sensory, respiratory epithelia on the turbinals of two domestic cats (Felis catus) and a bobcat (Lynx rufus). We also conducted a computational fluid dynamics simulation of nasal airflow in the bobcat to explore the relationship between epithelial distribution and airflow patterns. The results showed that a substantial amount of respiratory airflow passes over the anterior fronto-ethmoturbinals, and that contrary to what has been observed in caniform carnivorans, much of the anterior ethmoturbinals are covered by non-sensory epithelium. This confirms that in short-snouted felids, portions of the fronto-ethmoturbinals have been recruited for respiration, and that estimates of olfactory epithelial coverage based purely on fronto-ethmoturbinal surface area will be exaggerated. The correlation between the shape of the anterior fronto-ethmoturbinals and the direction of respiratory airflow suggests that in short-snouted species, CT data alone are useful in assessing airflow patterns and epithelium distribution on the turbinals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Los Angeles, 610 Charles Young Drive E, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7239, USA.
authors.forename: Benison
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Karen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Yee
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Fritz W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Lischka
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Rawson
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Haskins
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wysocki
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Craven
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Los Angeles, 610 Charles Young Drive E, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7239, USA bvanval@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Blaire
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9935-4719
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van Valkenburgh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000502:physiology*; D046008:Lynx / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000502:physiology*; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000502:physiology; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Airflow; Ethmoturbinal; Histology; Maxilloturbinal; Respiratory physiology