smell is the first sense, pretty much. single-celled organisms already have it.
of course, in some ways, it’s not as easy as for example vision. you need 3 different kinds of photoreceptors to see pretty much all that there is to see, but you need god knows how many chemical receptors in your nose (or all over your cell wall in the case of bacteria or the like) to sense all the interesting stuff floating around.
I had no idea dolphins and even fish could smell.
smell is the first sense, pretty much. single-celled organisms already have it.
of course, in some ways, it’s not as easy as for example vision. you need 3 different kinds of photoreceptors to see pretty much all that there is to see, but you need god knows how many chemical receptors in your nose (or all over your cell wall in the case of bacteria or the like) to sense all the interesting stuff floating around.
Sharks are supposed to be able to smell blood from a mile or more away - that’s why throwing chum in the water is a good way to draw them in.
I hadn’t thought about dolphins smelling though - I wonder if it’s closer to tasting, maybe?
They smell like the toys in my mother’s nightstand.