For school...(i'm home schooled-i don't get the summer off.....)lol
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insects, bacteria, fungus.
Insects lay their eggs in the flesh so their offspring can feed off of it.
Bacteria uses it also as breeding ground
fungus and bacteria, as well as insects and other animals have a position in nature to get rid of waste, and transfor it into nutrients that go into the soil and that plants use for producing organic compounds.
Insects lay their eggs in the flesh so their offspring can feed off of it.
Bacteria uses it also as breeding ground
fungus and bacteria, as well as insects and other animals have a position in nature to get rid of waste, and transfor it into nutrients that go into the soil and that plants use for producing organic compounds.
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Okay, so here's how decomp works:
After the animal dies, it immediately enters the FRESH stage of decomp. Within a few hours, rigor mortis (the stiffening of the muscles) sets in. The body cools. During the fresh stage, scavengers will often feed on the body (unless of course it's buried), reducing the mass of the animal to be decomposed. Flies (Califorid blow flies and Sarcophagid flesh flies, mostly) come and lay their eggs in the corpse. The microorganisms that naturally live inside all bodies are free to do as they please, so they use up the body's resources mating and destroying the tissue, which is called putrefaction. The body won't really smell at this stage.
Then the body enters the BLOAT stage. Basically, the body is filled with gas from all the micro-organisms. Meanwhile, all of the maggots will hatch and begin feeding, allowing the skin to slip. The body will rupture from the pressure of the gas and the maggots, allowing all that yummy dead body smell out.
Next is ACTIVE DECAY, where maggots, carrion beetles, earwhigs, and other flesh eating insects will feast on the body, rapidly destroying body mass. The body will definitely smell at this point.
ADVANCED decay is when the bodily resources have depleted so much that decomposition slows almost to a halt. The vegetation around the body will be dead, and the body will not smell nearly as bad.
The last stage is MUMMIFICATION/ SKELETAL REMAINS. This stage depends largely on where the body is located. In a desert, the dry climate will cause the remaining skin and meat to dry out and the remains will be sort of mummified, with the tendons stuck on the bone hard as a rock, inedible to anything. In a wetter environment, decay will run right up until there is nothing but bone.
The stages are not always clear cut, but using the presence of the life stage of the insects, it's usually possible to estimate time of death. This is highly dependent on the individual area in which the body is, which is why it's important that in different climates they do their own decomp studies.
Good luck! I was home schooled, too, and let me tell you: because I didn't take summers off, I graduated three years early. If you need some serious sources, I'm sure the local library has books on the topic and Google Scholar has scientific articles at the ready, a lot of them for free.
After the animal dies, it immediately enters the FRESH stage of decomp. Within a few hours, rigor mortis (the stiffening of the muscles) sets in. The body cools. During the fresh stage, scavengers will often feed on the body (unless of course it's buried), reducing the mass of the animal to be decomposed. Flies (Califorid blow flies and Sarcophagid flesh flies, mostly) come and lay their eggs in the corpse. The microorganisms that naturally live inside all bodies are free to do as they please, so they use up the body's resources mating and destroying the tissue, which is called putrefaction. The body won't really smell at this stage.
Then the body enters the BLOAT stage. Basically, the body is filled with gas from all the micro-organisms. Meanwhile, all of the maggots will hatch and begin feeding, allowing the skin to slip. The body will rupture from the pressure of the gas and the maggots, allowing all that yummy dead body smell out.
Next is ACTIVE DECAY, where maggots, carrion beetles, earwhigs, and other flesh eating insects will feast on the body, rapidly destroying body mass. The body will definitely smell at this point.
ADVANCED decay is when the bodily resources have depleted so much that decomposition slows almost to a halt. The vegetation around the body will be dead, and the body will not smell nearly as bad.
The last stage is MUMMIFICATION/ SKELETAL REMAINS. This stage depends largely on where the body is located. In a desert, the dry climate will cause the remaining skin and meat to dry out and the remains will be sort of mummified, with the tendons stuck on the bone hard as a rock, inedible to anything. In a wetter environment, decay will run right up until there is nothing but bone.
The stages are not always clear cut, but using the presence of the life stage of the insects, it's usually possible to estimate time of death. This is highly dependent on the individual area in which the body is, which is why it's important that in different climates they do their own decomp studies.
Good luck! I was home schooled, too, and let me tell you: because I didn't take summers off, I graduated three years early. If you need some serious sources, I'm sure the local library has books on the topic and Google Scholar has scientific articles at the ready, a lot of them for free.
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bacteria and micro-organisms