Dads can detect their children through smell

A new study conducted by the Technical University of Dresden in Germany found that fathers were able to correctly pick out the odour of clothes worn by their offspring a third of the time.

The figure may appear low but it is a significant increase on the 17 per cent success rate that is expected if fathers were guessing at random.

It was also discovered that dads prefer the scent of their own children, although they unsurprisingly found it less pleasant once they hit puberty.

This is likely due to the link between a baby’s smell and how it promotes bonding of parents with their children. The pleasantness of a tot's odour has also been shown to reduce parental stress.

The researchers wrote in the paper Physiology and Behaviour: "Similar to mothers, they (fathers) were able to recognise their own child's body odour across the developmental span, with the exception of early puberty."

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