Having a good sense of smell is vital for animals. The sense of smell helps them to orientate themselves, to detect dangers early, to find food and to choose the right partner. Most animals can therefore detect smells much better than humans can. It is not only mammals that have an excellent olfactory organ; reptiles, birds and fish can also perceive smells sensitively. The longest nose in the animal kingdom is certainly the trunk of the elephant. To everyone’s surprise, even scientists, recent studies have shown that elephants also have the most functional genes for olfactory receptors, about 2000, while mice, rats and dogs only have half of that. In humans, only about 400 olfactory receptors are left. By the way, one of our favorite mammals has no olfactory receptors at all, that is, the dolphin. It replaces the sense of smell with an excellent ultrasound sensor system.