In what chronological order do you believe our 5 basic senses evolved?

sabastious

Here's my guess:

1. TOUCHING
2. HEARING
3. SEEING
4. SMELLING
5. TASTING

Feel free to explain why if you want.

-Sab

zoiks

My best guess based on what I have read:

1. Smell/taste via chemical receptors. Even single-celled organisms can respond to chemical stimuli.

2. Touch. As multiple-celled organisms arose, so did the ability to 'bump' into things.

3. Hearing, first in the water as being able to sense vibrations, and later (after sight) in amphibians as being able to hear waves through the air.

4. Sight.

All of these senses can be observed in their 'primitive' - or little changed - and more 'advanced' current states in various organisms, from bacteria to eagles.

mummatron

1. TOUCHING
2. HEARING
3. TASTING
4. SEEING
5. SMELLING

That's my guess, and I think this because this is the order they develop in utero in humans, with the exception of smelling which develops immediately after birth but is nonetheless crucial for survival on a dry-land environment. Whereas the first 3 I listed are more primitive senses. Fossils over 100 million years old have a basic nervous system which would have allowed them to feel. As we move further along the fossil record, organisms become more sophisticated in terms of sensory evolution with features such as eyes and noses being more recent developments.

Just a guess though. Not something I've ever thought about before.

zoiks

Ooh, here's a good article on the Pharyngula blog:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/10/evolution_of_sensory_signaling.php

It talks about the different sensory types: chemoreceptors (sight, taste, smell) and mechanoreceptors (hearing, touch). Neat!

unshackled

Think zoiks 'best guess' is a good take on it. Combining smell/taste makes sense (pun intended) as the evolution of our senses wouldn't have been a distinct chronological order. I'm guessing some senses developed concurrently.

Anyways, we left an important sense off the list...
#6 - Seeing dead people

PSacramento

1. TOUCHING
2. smelling
3. tasting
4. hearing
5. seeing

Assuming we started off from the water that is.

sabastious

#6 - Seeing dead people

That evolved during the brief period of time when M Night Shyamalan made good movies.

-Sab

sinis

We didn't evolve, we were seeded by another race to be used as slaves.

zoiks

#6 - Seeing dead people

That evolved during the brief period of time when M Night Shyamalan made good movies.

-Sab

**Badum-tish!**

Right on, Unshackled - senses developing concurrently is what I get from my casual research. Hearing and touch, for example, are both mechanical and could have started out together. Taste/smell are still closely linked in humans.

In what chronological order do you believe our 5 basic senses evolved?

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