Even if a dog has problems with vision, hearing, or smell, it can still detect prey — thanks to the thermoreceptors in its nose, which allow it to sense heat at a distance.
Researchers from the University of Budapest suggested that dogs have such receptors. These are the same scientists who established that dogs remember our actions, perceive intonation and the sound of words differently, and can learn while sleeping. They conducted an experiment in which three dogs had to choose the warmer object from a distance of 1.6 m. If the dog made the correct choice, it received a treat.
The dogs could not see or smell these objects, so they had to distinguish them by temperature. As reported in the journal Scientific Reports, all three dogs successfully completed the task: they understood that they needed to choose the warmer object and indeed chose it.
After that, the researchers tested thirteen new dogs using magnetic resonance imaging to find out how their brains function when shown warmer and colder objects. In the left somatosensory cortex of the dogs, a zone processing information from the nose was found, and in this area, a section that reacted to the appearance of warm objects was identified.
The ability to sense heat at a distance is observed in some animals, such as fire beetles, certain snakes, and vampire bats, and it has now been revealed that it is also present in dogs. However, it is possible that this list is not exhaustive and that dogs have many more interesting abilities.
