Predator sense of smell

[techtor]

Don't know if this had been taken up already, but do the predators have a sense of smell? I've noticed in all movies that the preds rely heavily on vision and maybe hearing. But based on zoology class, our own earth hunter species almost always have a good sense of smell. If the predators don't have it, they seem to lack a potent tool for hunting. Or do they have a radar sense as well, a la Daredevil (but not for Chopper, who got claimed by a Xenomorph easily)?

[frosty_141]

thats a good question seeing as the predators as far as i have seen doesn't have a clear nose or slit of sorts, but than neither does an alien for that matter, it would be ironic seeing as predators are supposed to be the ultimate hunter, yet not having an essential tool for hunting, perhaps they compensate for it through vision/technology, mabe they can just smell lol i dunno

[Meathead320]

Maybe the smell with the dreads, the same way snakes use their tongue?

Kills two birds with one stone...

[RakaiThwei]

They do smell but despite that they do not have nose, doesn't mean that they smell differently than we do-- according to Perry's novels, the Yautja have a much superior sense of smell, equivilant to that of a dog or higher maybe.

Sure, they have no visible nose but the space in the middle of their face perhaps suggest that they do have something there. Most likely they have small tiny pores which enable them to smell, as smells have something called scent molecules. Scent molecules are very tiny and perhaps that the pores on the Predator's "nose" can pick up these scent molecules.

-Rakai'Thwei

[Eidotemit]

idk, they may have a sense of smell, however there aren't many signs to suggest it, especially that its a strong one. First off, the lack of any sort of visible nostrils (however, there is very much the possibility that they do in fact smell differently than us or anything on Earth).

Further more, while they are a hunter species, they may not have evolved to be hunters. That is, they don't need to hunt to survive. They do seem to eat meet (hypothesized in P2), however like humans are smart enough to use technology to hunt for food, and have a higher thinking and reasoning ability to outsmart their prey.

If they do have a sense of smell, there is no apparent  reason it should be highly advanced like a bear or lion, or even a dog.

[Gangster Predator]

I don't know, but they don't have noses!

[RakaiThwei]

idk, they may have a sense of smell, however there aren't many signs to suggest it, especially that its a strong
If they do have a sense of smell, there is no apparent  reason it should be highly advanced like a bear or lion, or even a dog.

I'm going just by my own theory which combines the Perry Mythos and the films together. Not sure if you're going by the films alone but I'm just simply sharing my view of it.

-Rakai'Thwei

[BrokenTusk]

we know they breathe at least.

[Pax]

It's possible they just breathe through their mouth.  It's a little inconvenient, but then again, so is our arrangement of breathing and eating through the same tube.

The question I came up with last time I watched Predator is: how do they hear without ears?

The only thing I can figure is that they collect sound through them big eye sockets.  Sounds weird, but somehow, the way Predator vision is presented in the movies, I felt like the two senses were linked.  It would explain why they're always moving their heads around like birds - they're trying to position their limited-direction hearing organs around to recieve the most sound.

Or maybe I'm dumb.

-Pax

[frosty_141]

that sounds possible to me i always found those movements scary and unnerving, its kind of like a velociraptors head movement..hmm..mabe theres a link there???

[techtor]

Hi,sorry wasn't back for a while. It's an interesting topic for me since the movies don't seem to indicate an acute sense of smell. Maybe something the scriptwriters overlook. Or maybe they are like humans, not much of a sense of smell until they're trained. Perhaps their sense of smell is as convoluted as their sight (without the mask)? Of course, I'm not implying the preds are required to have a sense of smell... but it's an interesting angle to look at. Hope the writers of the next movie think up something on it.

Hmmm.. the xenomorph seem to be scentless? Wait, I should head over to the over board for that....

[Dingo]

Actually the idea with the ears being the eyes or whatever the idea was, I think it is false because in P2 when they are in the slaughter house one of the soldiers steps on creeky step. When that happens the predator clearly hears it and turns around, I'm assuming to face where the sound was coming from.