Horses have around 1,000 smell genes, rabbits around 750 and rats about 1,200.

“The large repertoire of elephant (smell) genes might be attributed to elephants’ heavy reliance on scent in various contexts, including foraging, social communication, and reproduction,” added Dr Niimura

African and Asian elephants possess a specific scent gland, called the temporal gland, behind each eye, and male elephants exude an oily secretion during annual mating, which is characterized by increased aggressiveness and elevated levels of testosterone .

Research has also shown that elephants have well-developed olfactory systems that include large olfactory bulbs and large olfactory areas in the brain.

And previous studies have revealed that, African elephants can reportedly distinguish between two Kenyan ethnic groups—the Maasai, whose young men demonstrate virility by spearing elephants, and the Kamba, who are agricultural people that pose little threat to elephants through smell.

The sense of smell evolved over millions of years and our human ancestors would have used it as a tool to spot disease, avoid rotten meat and poisonous plants and sniff out food.

However our upright posture lifted our noses far from the ground where most smells originate, diluting scent molecules in the air.

And today many smells which still give us hints about rot and poor hygiene are masked behind perfumes, air fresheners and deodorants.

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