What would humans need to sacrifice for a better sense of smell?

Humans have some genes that allow for a precise sense of smell, but they were turned off millions of years back, just like in many other primates. To name an exeption, lemurs are primates with a developed sense of smell, complete with a VNO. I would like for the humans in my story to have developed VNOs and a sense of smell similar in application to that of a lemur. Of course, there are structural limitations on the humanoid nose, so the sense of smell may not be as good as a lemur's, but much like it.

In particular, the humans in my story are nocturnal and eat fruit. They are tetrachromats and have sharp vision, slightly better than that of real humans to see fruit at night. Would that evolutionarily detract form their olfactory sense? Most importantly, would a stronger sense of smell hurt intelligence?

posted almost 6 years ago

Luxa‭

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