Study of the morphology of the olfactory organ of African ostrich chick.

The anatomy and histology of the olfactory organ of African ostrich chick were carefully observed by gross anatomy observation, paraffin sectioning and haematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The results showed that there were no keratotic nose lids at the entrance of the external naris, and that the nasal cavity was separated into two imperforate compartments by the nasal septum. The posterior conchae were connected with the middle conchae without cohering to nasal walls, and appeared to be part of a palinal elongation of the middle conchae. Olfactory cells were distributed in the mucosal epithelium of middle and posterior conchae. Nasal glands were shaped like irregular rectangles, and their connective tissue extended to the parenchyma, which was divided into many glandular lobules. The layers of the olfactory bulb were indistinct, the globular structure was inconspicuous and the granular cells were scattered relatively in the lamina granularis externa.