It turns out that dogs are not top dog when it comes to super-smelling. In a study published today in Genome Research, researchers found that African elephants have twice as many genes responsible for differentiating odors than dogs do, though dogs and elephants beat out humans by two times and five times more genes, respectively.

By analyzing the genomes of 13 land mammals, the scientists found more than 10,000 unique olfactory receptor genes, which code the proteins that detect different odors in the air. Although researchers don't have a complete understanding of the complex olfactory system, many believe that a combination of active olfactory receptors tells the brain what smells are what, and that a larger number of intact olfactory receptor genes translates into a better sense of smell. African elephants beat out all of the other mammals by a landslide; they have almost 2,000 functional genes. Second place goes to the rat with 1,200.

Researchers have just begun to understand just how powerful an elephant's sense of smell can be. In a 2007 study, scientists found that elephants use their noses to distinguish between different human ethnic groups—particularly, between a Kenyan ethnic group that regularly spears elephants and another group that poses little danger. On a sniffing ability test, Asian elephants could tell apart molecules that were different by only one carbon atom. They performed as well as rats and much better than humans.

The elephant's long trunk is not just for grabbing peanuts and spraying water. It's one powerful smelling machine.

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