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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

The Olfactory System as a Model to Study Axonal Growth Patterns and Morphology In Vivo
Published on: October 30, 2014
Phylogenic outline of the olfactory system in vertebrates
Kazumi Taniguchi1, Shouichiro Saito, Kazuyuki Taniguchi
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Kitasato University, Towada, Japan. anatomia@iwate-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Phylogenic outline of the vertebrate olfactory system is summarized in the present review. In the fish and the birds, the olfactory system consists only of the olfactory epithelium (OE) and the olfactory bulb (B). In the amphibians, reptiles and mammals, the olfactory system is subdivided into the main olfactory and the vomeronasal olfactory systems, and the former consists of the OE and the main olfactory bulb (MOB), while the latter the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). The subdivision of the olfactory system into the main and the vomeronasal olfactory systems may partly be induced by the difference between paraphyletic groups and monophyletic groups in the phylogeny of vertebrates.
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