Morphological and histochemical studies of the nasal cavity and fused olfactory bulb of the Zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata

为探讨斑胸草雀嗅觉功能水平，对斑胸草雀鼻腔和嗅球的解剖学和组织学特征进行了分析。在斑胸草雀的鼻腔中，虽然前、上颌耳甲清晰可见，但与后耳甲相当的结构并不明显。斑胸草雀的嗅上皮在后耳甲中所占的面积非常小，其组织学和超微结构特征与已报道的其他鸟类嗅感受器细胞相似。OB大小与大脑半球大小的比值很小。左右OB完全融合，位于大脑前端的腹侧。结果表明，斑胸草雀和雀形目鸟类一样，嗅觉能力有限。

We analyzed the anatomical and histological properties of the nasal cavity and olfactory bulb of the zebra finch to investigate its functional level of the olfaction. In the nasal cavity of the zebra finch, although the anterior and maxillary conchae were clearly observed, there was obscure structure equivalent to the posterior concha. The olfactory epithelium of the zebra finch occupied remarkably small area of the posterior concha and had the histological and ultrastructural features of the olfactory receptor cells like already reported other avian species. The ratio of the OB size to that of the cerebral hemisphere was very small. The left and right OB were completely fused and located on the ventral side of the anterior extremity of the cerebrum. Our results suggested that the zebra finch has a limited sense of olfaction, as same as other passeriforme avians.