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The existence of the vomeronasal organ in postnatal chimpanzees and evidence for its homology with that of humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2001

TIMOTHY D. SMITH ,
MICHAEL I. SIEGEL ,
CHRISTOPHER J. BONAR ,
KUNWAR P. BHATNAGAR ,
MARK P. MOONEY ,
ANNIE M. BURROWS ,
MATTHEW A. SMITH  and
LISETTE M. MAICO
TIMOTHY D. SMITH
Affiliation:
School of Physical Therapy, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock PA, USA Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, USA
MICHAEL I. SIEGEL
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, USA
CHRISTOPHER J. BONAR
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, Cleveland MetroParks Zoo, Cleveland OH, USA
KUNWAR P. BHATNAGAR
Affiliation:
University of Louisville, School of Medicine, Louisville KY, USA
MARK P. MOONEY
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, USA Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, USA
ANNIE M. BURROWS
Affiliation:
School of Physical Therapy, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock PA, USA Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, USA
MATTHEW A. SMITH
Affiliation:
Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
LISETTE M. MAICO
Affiliation:
School of Physical Therapy, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock PA, USA
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Abstract

It is currently thought that New World monkeys, prosimians, and humans are the only primates to possess vomeronasal organs (VNOs) as adults. Recent studies of the human VNO suggest that previous investigations on Old World primates may have missed the VNO. We examined nasal septa from the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) grossly and histologically for comparison with nasal septa from humans, Old World monkeys (Macaca fascicularis, M. nemistrina) and prosimian primates (Microcebus murinus, Otolemur garnettii). Grossly, chimpanzees had depressions on the nasal septum similar to fossae reported anterior to the VNO openings in humans. Histologically, chimpanzees and humans had bilateral epithelial tubes which were above the superior margin of the paraseptal cartilages (vomeronasal cartilage homologue). The epithelial tubes had a homogeneous ciliated epithelium. These structures were thus positionally and structurally identical to the human VNO and unlike the well-developed prosimian VNOs which were surrounded by vomeronasal cartilage. Macaques had no structures which resembled the VNO of either the prosimians or humans. The results demonstrate that the VNO is present postnatally in the chimpanzee and is almost identical to the human VNO in its anatomical position and histological structure. This in turn suggests that the reported absence of the VNO in at least some adult Old World primates is artifactual, and that further study may provide evidence for its existence in other species.

Keywords

Jacobson's organparaseptal cartilagevomeronasal cartilage
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Anatomy , Volume 198 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 77 - 82
Copyright
© Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2001

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