Research Article Primate Biol., 2, 89–110, 2015 www.primate-biol.net/2/89/2015/ doi:10.5194/pb-2-89-2015 © Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License. The ethmoidal region of the skull of Ptilocercus lowii (Ptilocercidae, Scandentia, Mammalia) – a contribution to the reconstruction of the cranial morphotype of primates I. Ruf1, S. Janßen2, and U. Zeller2 1Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Abteilung Paläoanthropologie und Messelforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany 2FG Spezielle Zoologie, Lebenswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institut für Agrar- und Gartenbauwissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Ziegelstrasse 5–9, 10117 Berlin, Germany Dedicated to Hans-Jürg Kuhn on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Correspondence to: I. Ruf (
[email protected]) Received: 17 June 2015 – Revised: 6 September 2015 – Accepted: 7 September 2015 – Published: 25 September 2015 Abstract. The ethmoidal region of the skull houses one of the most important sense organs of mammals, the sense of smell. Investigation of the ontogeny and comparative anatomy of internal nasal structures of the macros- matic order Scandentia is a significant contribution to the understanding of the morphotype of Scandentia with potential implications for our understanding of the primate nasal morphological pattern. For the first time peri- natal and adult stages of Ptilocercus lowii and selected Tupaia species were investigated by serial histological sections and high-resolution computed tomography (µCT), respectively. Scandentia show a very common olfac- tory turbinal pattern of small mammals in having two frontoturbinals, three ethmoturbinals, and one interturbinal between the first and second ethmoturbinal. This indicates a moderately developed sense of smell (moderately macrosmatic).