olfactory epithelium
A sensory epithelium inside the nasal cavity that is responsible for detecting odors[WP]. Every claim on this page comes from the Leumas anatomy graph and carries its source.
What the olfactory epithelium is
A sensory epithelium inside the nasal cavity that is responsible for detecting odors[WP]. The atlas records it as a tissue at the tissue scale in the human body.
Where the olfactory epithelium is
It sits in the head, within the nervous, respiratory and sensory systems. Not positioned individually, and containment is not asserted either. Drawn near structures of the same kind, which is a weak claim about location.
What the olfactory epithelium connects to
The atlas records 14 typed relationships for it, across 6 kinds of connection. part of olfactory segment of nasal mucosa and somatic nervous system.
Supply and innervation
Innervation: olfactory nerve.
Also called
Also recorded as main olfactory epithelium, nasal cavity olfactory epithelium, olfactory membrane, olfactory sensory epithelium, sensory olfactory epithelium and MOE, and 3 more. Searching any of those names reaches this page.
Source
Uberon multi-species anatomy ontology (Mungall et al.), CC BY 4.0. Term UBERON:0001997, version 2026-06-19, retrieved 2026-08-24. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
- Part of: olfactory segment of nasal mucosa and somatic nervous system.
- A kind of: ecto-epithelium, nasal cavity epithelium, pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium and sensory epithelium.
- Develops from: body proper, external ectoderm, head and olfactory placode.
- contributes to morphology of: nose and olfactory system.
- develops into: epithelium of vomeronasal organ.
- Innervated by: olfactory nerve.
Questions
Where is the olfactory epithelium?
It sits in the head, within the nervous, respiratory and sensory systems. Not positioned individually, and containment is not asserted either. Drawn near structures of the same kind, which is a weak claim about location.
What does the olfactory epithelium connect to?
Part of: olfactory segment of nasal mucosa and somatic nervous system.
Is the olfactory epithelium the same in other species?
Leumas holds the same relationship vocabulary for every species it carries, so where another dataset records this structure you can put the two side by side on /compare.