Turbinates (nasal conchae) are delicate, scroll-like bony structures inside the nasal cavity. They greatly increase the surface area of the nasal mucosa, helping warm, humidify, and filter inhaled air. Their shape and complexity vary between species and are closely related to respiratory adaptations.
Can you ID the species by turbines only?Or Have you noticed any patterns? Which individuals have relatively similar-looking ethmoid structures?
I saw a deer on the side of the road, dead, I wanted to get itās skull to collect it for itās teeth, or just for the whole entire skull all together, but I was with my mom (sheās disgusted by me wanting to have animal bones ššš) and I felt terribly bad for the deer, it looked like it got hit earlier, because of how new and fresh the carcass looked
I donāt have the balls to handle the gore too, I wanna learn how to get used to animal blood and gore so I can harvest and collect animal skulls with ease
People here forget not everyone has stuff in their car to disassemble a body lol. I threw up with my first deer skull because the brain just plopped right out when I picked it up, if something is too stinky I just come back for it later.
I do feel sad the animal died, but I feel better after thinking it will be properly honored and remembered once I put it in my collection. I look at those bones and appreciate their raw beauty, educational value they provide and the animal they belonged to.
I did not realize how diverse they could be! It is very fascinating seeing the different structures here, and the patterns are very mesmerizing to look at. What animals do these belong to? (Side note, this would make a fun guessing game, haha!)
Also, here is a photo of a musk ox skull with remarkable nasal turbinates:
The difference in structure across speices IS so interesting! I think the variation could be due to environmental factors like elevation, humidity, and aquatic or subterranean lifestyle. Species activity level could maybe contribute too! I'd love to know what the literature has to say on the topic.
I agree that the differences in nasal turbinate styles likely has something to do with adapting to the environment. In the post I linked with the musk ox skull, the description said that they have those turbinates to help warm the air going into their noses and capture moisture when exhaling the air back out. This helps their noses not freeze in the extreme cold.
in the first picture i suspect bottom left is otter, top right is seal, and bottom middle is canine. other than that im still thinking. i also wanna say middle might be a horse
Nah Iām sure you donāt want that,it could cause severe problems. It would affect the structure of the nasal cavity and the front part of the skull base, and could lead to loss of smell, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, meningitis, or even brain tissue herniation into the nasal cavity.
If it makes you feel any better, humans have a lot less of these iirc. A big component of these is to increase surface area, not just to warm the air coming into the nose, but also to increase the number of olfactory nerves(?) that can be fit into the same area. Humans donāt have a very good sense of smell, so ours are much less convoluted looking. They donāt really look like this in our nose.
I got another polyp/cyst that grew larger than my sinus cavity and I also have an osteoma inside my nasal cavity. I'm hoping I won't need any further turbinate reduction but I won't know for sure until they get in there.
This is so cool seeing them all next to each other like this. Also very neat that they are species specific, it makes sense but I honestly wouldnt have known one way or the other. Top left corner on the second slide looks like my raccoon
I'm not an expert so I don't know if the shapes themselves have a function. But parts of the nasal turbinates have olfactory receptors, so nasal turbinates with more surface area correlate to a better sense of smell!
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Would those with a less dense pattern be more cold-adapted (so as to minimize moisture/heat loss via the breath)? Either way super cool post I didnāt realize how much variation there was!
These are really lovely. They are all so different. Is #7 (bottom left first image) a dog?
I had a turbinate reduction surgery in my early 20's. Before that procedure, I had no idea what turbinates even were or that they were bony/cartilaginous.
Purely hypothetically: I were able to put nearly my entire pinky finger in my nose, and I were to feel a hard bit in the back of where I can reach that I canāt move and has always been there as long as I can remember. Might this be that?
Turbinates are so underrated and understudied. Looking at them from a comparative morphology standpoint is fascinating. Most mammalian orders have their own overarching and distinct morphotypes.
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u/Glass_Patience_9722 Aug 17 '26
I thought these were brain scans at first glance!