# Do lizards have a sense of smell?



## Cicindela (Nov 28, 2014)

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I was wondering today about lizards and what their ability to smell things is like? Does anyone know just how much a lizard can smell scents in the air? I always think of lizards not smelling much- I think i'm right in saying birds don't use smell only taste, Are lizards predominately vision based? or do they taste the air? My chameleon regularly tastes the vines he's walking on and catches insects with vision, My day gecko quickly finds a pot of nectar if I put it in his house but then again he sees everything anyway, i've seen lizards eating flowers, can they smell them or do they find them with ultraviolet colours? but how much if any does smell help? Is it that it varies per lizard family-classification? Would love to know if anyone has any scientific info on the sense of smell in lizards.


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## jamesbreck (Aug 14, 2014)

Cicindela said:


> Sorry if this is a dumb question but I was wondering today about lizards and what their ability to smell things is like? Does anyone know just how much a lizard can smell scents in the air? I always think of lizards not smelling much- I think i'm right in saying birds don't use smell only taste, Are lizards predominately vision based? or do they taste the air? My chameleon regularly tastes the vines he's walking on and catches insects with vision, My day gecko quickly finds a pot of nectar if I put it in his house but then again he sees everything anyway, i've seen lizards eating flowers, can they smell them or do they find them with ultraviolet colours? but how much if any does smell help? Is it that it varies per lizard family-classification? Would love to know if anyone has any scientific info on the sense of smell in lizards.


Reptiles in general have amazing g senses....I can guarantee its a lot better than our own 

Sent from my SM-G850F using Tapatalk


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## Creed (Apr 2, 2014)

Cicindela said:


> I think i'm right in saying birds don't use smell only taste


No, birds have a perfectly good sense of smell: http://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/u23/downloads/publications/bird-table/BT69_LR_12-13.pdf

If you want to know more about olfaction I'd suggest taking a look at this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfaction#Olfaction_in_plants_and_animals


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

I recall reading an article a while ago, though I can not for the life of me remember where, but it came about in zoological exhibits where they would try to make the living enviroment more enriching and stimulating for the occupants, surprisingly for reptiles, olfacatory stimulation was incorperated in a number of ways, including even adding in snake skins deliberately into the living quaters of some species to keep their minds ticking. 

Monitor lizards definitely seem to be able to detect and smell things much better than we can, komodo dragons would be the best example I could think of to demonstrate that. 

Many iguana owners (myself included) will tell you, if you have the smell of something fruity in your hair, or you have been handling fruit, they seem to know, and will taste those areas with real interest, sometimes resulting in a bite from my female. :gasp:

I think, it is reasonable to assume, anything that encourages use of the five senses, can be found in most of our worlds life in some form, smell is definitely one of them, and in-fact, some species of reptile, will depend entirely on just smell to ambush. 

:2thumb:


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## Cicindela (Nov 28, 2014)

That's fascinating- thank you for that- I will try and find out more- I suppose I was guilty of assuming that because my lizard doesn't react perhaps like a mammal and noticeably changes it's behaviour and follows a scent in the air i overlooked it, I took for granted that smell is not a sense they use much but that definately doesn't mean they don't use it, they maybe just don't show it as much. I guess animals will utilise all the senses they have. I am very much for enrichment and i enjoy adding things in my snakes vivs especially for them to experience, I love to see them explore different things, anything to help make their lives more stimulating, I will have to try it with my cham and see If he changes his behaviour. Thanks again.


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## N8turebuff (Mar 3, 2021)

While it is true birds, in general, have a poor sense of smell by comparison to most reptiles & mammals. Vultures are an exception. They have a *very* good sense of smell & the Turkey vulture surpasses all of the others. This is why Black vultures are often seen following Turkey vultures. However, getting back to the birds "in general" I referred to earlier, non-vultures really don't have a sense of smell worth bragging about. This is why we (who know birds) know it is a myth that a bird will abandon a chick or egg you've handled... based on *smell*, that is. Birds (most, if not all), however, have an extraordinarily wonderful sense of vision & if they *see* you handling their babies or eggs, not good! ...so dont, because they are nearby & can see from a *very *good distance away!

Now, on to lizards. This is a good question which I am going to look into further. But for now, what I _*do*_ know is they are "squamata," same as snakes so I would imagine their olfactory prowess is relatively good, because a snake's sense of smell is excellent, up there closer to bears & sharks... *better *than dogs, by far! 

They can also detect what direction the scent they pick up on is in, using their forked tongue. When they extend their tongue into the air & "wave" or "flick" it, they are gathering scent molecules which stick to moisture (wet tongue) just as sugar sticks to yours. When they pull their tongue back in their mouth, they insert each fork tip into a hole (two, to match their two forks) which are openings into their Jacobson's or Vomeronasal organ. This is their olfactory or smelling organ. If the scent is greater (more scent molecules) on the left fork, they know what they're smelling is on/to the left of the way they're facing. If you could only train your snake to scent track, the way Toothless showed the way to the dragon's "nest" in How To Train Your Dragon, you'd have a far better tracker than bloodhound handlers do. Again, I don't know that lizards have quite the sense of smell snakes do, but I don't know they don't either. Yet both being "Squamata," my bet is it's pretty close... at least the meat-eaters that hunt, like monitors, beaded lizards, etc.


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## murrindindi (Feb 19, 2009)

N8turebuff said:


> While it is true birds, in general, have a poor sense of smell by comparison to most reptiles & mammals. Vultures are an exception. They have a *very* good sense of smell & the Turkey vulture surpasses all of the others. This is why Black vultures are often seen following Turkey vultures. However, getting back to the birds "in general" I referred to earlier, non-vultures really don't have a sense of smell worth bragging about. This is why we (who know birds) know it is a myth that a bird will abandon a chick or egg you've handled... based on *smell*, that is. Birds (most, if not all), however, have an extraordinarily wonderful sense of vision & if they *see* you handling their babies or eggs, not good! ...so dont, because they are nearby & can see from a *very *good distance away!
> 
> Now, on to lizards. This is a good question which I am going to look into further. But for now, what I _*do*_ know is they are "squamata," same as snakes so I would imagine their olfactory prowess is relatively good, because a snake's sense of smell is excellent, up there closer to bears & sharks... *better *than dogs, by far!
> 
> They can also detect what direction the scent they pick up on is in, using their forked tongue. When they extend their tongue into the air & "wave" or "flick" it, they are gathering scent molecules which stick to moisture (wet tongue) just as sugar sticks to yours. When they pull their tongue back in their mouth, they insert each fork tip into a hole (two, to match their two forks) which are openings into their Jacobson's or Vomeronasal organ. This is their olfactory or smelling organ. If the scent is greater (more scent molecules) on the left fork, they know what they're smelling is on/to the left of the way they're facing. If you could only train your snake to scent track, the way Toothless showed the way to the dragon's "nest" in How To Train Your Dragon, you'd have a far better tracker than bloodhound handlers do. Again, I don't know that lizards have quite the sense of smell snakes do, but I don't know they don't either. Yet both being "Squamata," my bet is it's pretty close... at least the meat-eaters that hunt, like monitors, beaded lizards, etc.



Hi, this thread is over 6 years old.


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## N8turebuff (Mar 3, 2021)

Okay.


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