Variation in rhinarium temperature indicates sensory specializations in placental mammals

Gläser, Nele; Kröger, Ronald H. H.

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.04.010

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The organ is absent in other carefully studied rhinaria, such as in moles and their relatives (Catania, 2000) and in lemurs (Elofsson et al, 2015). It is interesting in this context that carnivorans have lower rhinarium temperatures than other mammalian groups (Gläser & Kröger, 2017). Dogs in particular have intricate rhinarium temperature dynamics (Kröger & Goiricelaya, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new type of somatosensory organ in the nasolabial skin of the dog

Elofsson

Kröger

2020

Journal of Morphology

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A new morphological type of somatosensory organ is described. It is found in the glabrous skin of the dog nose (rhinarium or planum nasale) and situated in dermis papillae. The otherwise thick epidermis forms a thin window above the organ. There are only a few layers of keratinocytes in the window and the corneocytes are much thinner than elsewhere. The organ consists of highly branching cells that wrap naked nerve endings emanating from myelinated nerve fibers originating in the outer dermal nerve plexus. The structure entirely fills the top of the dermal papilla. The intercellular spaces of the organ and its surroundings are occupied by an extended areolar basal lamina.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new type of somatosensory organ in the nasolabial skin of the dog

Elofsson

Kröger

2020

Journal of Morphology

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“…The measurements were taken from a distance of 0.5 to 1.0 m. Temperature values from the thermographs were read out from the screen in the case of the FLIR E30 camera, while those taken by the FLIR T640 camera were evaluated with the FLIR Tools Plus software (FLIR Systems). In the latter case, the temperatures were determined as averages of pixel values in a manually selected area on the rhinarium as in 4,5 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors concluded that the rhinaria of the studied species seem to have a primary function other than gathering tactile information. Curiously, the temperature of the carnivoran rhinarium in awake animals is considerably lower than in other mammalian groups 4 . In alert dogs (Canis familiaris), the temperature of the rhinarium follows a characteristic pattern.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Dogs can sense weak thermal radiation

Bálint

Andics

Gácsi

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The dog rhinarium (naked and often moist skin on the nose-tip) is prominent and richly innervated, suggesting a sensory function. Compared to nose-tips of herbivorous artio-and perissodactyla, carnivoran rhinaria are considerably colder. We hypothesized that this coldness makes the dog rhinarium particularly sensitive to radiating heat. We trained three dogs to distinguish between two distant objects based on radiating heat; the neutral object was about ambient temperature, the warm object was about the same surface temperature as a furry mammal. In addition, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging on 13 awake dogs, comparing the responses to heat stimuli of about the same temperatures as in the behavioural experiment. The warm stimulus elicited increased neural response in the left somatosensory association cortex. Our results demonstrate a hitherto undiscovered sensory modality in a carnivoran species.

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“…During development, sensory nerves provide a map for arterial growth through secretion of VEGF (Mukouyama et al, 2002), and thus there may be a natural tendency for sensory activity to be associated with changes in blood flow, leading to potential trade-offs between sensory response and energy supply (in the form of body heat). Indeed, a precedence for thermal-sensory associations exists (Glaser and Kroger, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The speed of this behaviour is astonishing, as star-nosed moles can locate, identify, and ingest prey items in as little as 102 ms, crowning them as one of fastest eaters of the animal kingdom (Catania and Remple, 2005). In principle, the sensory structures of endotherms are metabolically active and highly temperature sensitive tissues that are expected to function more effectively when maintained at a warm and stable temperature (Glaser and Kroger, 2017). The elephant’s ( Loxodonta africana ) trunk, for example, is the warmest part of the skin (Weissenboeck et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoconforming rays of the star-nosed mole

Tattersall

Campbell

2022

Preprint

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The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is well known for its unique star-like rostrum ("star") which is formed by 22 nasal appendages highly specialised for tactile sensation. As a northerly distributed insectivorous mammal occupying both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, this sensory appendage is regularly exposed to cold water and thermally conductive soil, leading us to ask whether the surface temperature, a proxy for blood flow to the star, conforms to the local ambient temperatures as a means to conserve body heat. Alternatively, given the high functioning and sensory nature of the star, we posited it was possible that the rays may be kept continually warm when foraging, with augmented peripheral blood flow serving this tactile sensory organ. To test these ideas, we remotely monitored the surface temperatures of the star and other uninsulated appendages in response to changes in local water or ground temperature in wild-caught star-nosed moles briefly studied in captive situation. While the tail responded to increasing heat load through vasodilation, the surface temperature of the star consistently thermoconformed, effectively passively varying in surface temperature, suggesting little evidence for thermoregulatory vasomotion. This thermoconforming response may have evolved as a compensatory response related to the high costs of heat dissipation to water or soil in this actively foraging insectivore.

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Variation in rhinarium temperature indicates sensory specializations in placental mammals

Cited by 9 publications

References 21 publications

A new type of somatosensory organ in the nasolabial skin of the dog

A new type of somatosensory organ in the nasolabial skin of the dog

Dogs can sense weak thermal radiation

Thermoconforming rays of the star-nosed mole

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