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Carrion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Animal carcass)
For other uses, see Carrion (disambiguation).

A wedge-tailed eagle and carrion (roadkill kangaroo) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Zoarcid fish feeding on the carrion of a mobulid ray.

Carrion (from Latin caro 'meat'), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals.[1] Carrion may be of natural or anthropic origin (e.g. wildlife, human remains, livestock), and enters the food chain via different routes (e.g. animals dying of disease or malnutrition, predators and hunters discarding parts of their prey, collisions with automobiles).[2][3]

Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, humans, hawks, eagles,[4] hyenas,[5] Virginia opossum,[6] Tasmanian devils,[7] coyotes[8] and Komodo dragons. Many invertebrates, such as the carrion and burying beetles,[9] as well as maggots of calliphorid flies (such as one of the most important species in Calliphora vomitoria) and flesh-flies, also eat carrion, playing an important role in recycling nitrogen and carbon in animal remains.[10]

Carrion begins to decay at the moment of the animal's death, and it will increasingly attract insects and breed bacteria. Not long after the animal has died, its body will begin to exude a foul odor caused by the presence of bacteria and the emission of cadaverine and putrescine.[11]

Disease transmission

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Carrion can harbor many infectious and disease-causing agents including viruses (e.g. rabies virus, West Nile virus),[12][13] bacteria (e.g. Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Listeria monocytogenes, Pasteurella multocida),[14] bacterial toxins (e.g. botulinum)[14] and helminths (e.g. Trichinella species).[15][16] Several outbreaks of disease, attributed to direct or indirect contact with carrion, have been reported in humans[17][18] and animals.[19][20]

Consumption by early hominins and modern humans

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Consumption by early hominins

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Early hominins (e.g. Homo habilis, Homo erectus) are thought to have obtained at least some of the protein and fat in their diet by scavenging meat and bone marrow from the carcasses of large mammals abandoned by predators.[21][22] This is based on several observations. First, tools of the Early Pleistocene (e.g. Oldowan choppers) were more suited to butchering carcasses than hunting. Second, at many archaeological sites, animal bones have been recovered where tool cuts made by H. habilis are present over tooth marks made by carnivores.[21] In addition, it has been observed that current-day predators (e.g. lions) leave large portions of their kills intact, and it is thought that saber-toothed cats in the Middle Pleistocene would have done likewise.[22][23][24]

Later in the Quaternary period, hominins turned more to hunting for food. At what stage this happened is unclear. Some researchers propose that Homo neanderthalensis was more a hunter than a scavenger based on stable isotope analyses and other evidence.[25][26] However, this interpretation of the isotopic data has been questioned.[27] Later still, hominins turned to herding wild animals and the husbandry of domesticated animals.[26]

Consumption by modern humans

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Carrion consumption by modern humans (Homo sapiens) has been documented on several occasions. Examples of carrion eaten include predator kills (e.g. zebra, wildebeest, impala, giraffe),[28] beached marine mammals (e.g. dead whale)[18] and dead livestock (e.g. water buffalo).[17] At least two outbreaks of disease (anthrax and botulism) have been reported, one in 1987, the other in 2002.[17][18] According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), additional (unpublished) outbreaks of botulism have occurred from marine carrion consumption.[18]

Unlike vultures, coyotes and other carrion-eating animals,[14] humans are extremely sensitive to botulinum toxin.[29][30] This toxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium found in soil and seabeds that can colonize animal bodies after they’ve died.[18][31]

Among modern-day hunter-gatherer communities who regularly eat carrion as part of their diet, some precautionary behaviors have been documented. These include prioritizing reaching carcasses quickly after death, butchering and disemboweling the carcass, and cooking or sun-drying the meat and viscera recovered.[28][32]

In religious literature

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In Noahide law

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Main article: Noahide laws

The thirty-count laws of Ulla (Talmudist) include the prohibition of humans consuming carrion.[33] This count is in addition to the standard seven law count and has been recently[when?] published from the Judeo-Arabic writing of Shmuel ben Hophni Gaon after having been lost for centuries.[34]

In Islam

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Animals killed by strangling, a violent blow, a headlong fall, being gored to death, or from which a predatory animal has partially eaten are considered types of carrion, and are forbidden in Islam.[35]

In English literature

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Sometimes carrion is used to describe an infected carcass that is diseased and should not be touched. An example of carrion being used to describe dead and rotting bodies in literature may be found in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar (III.i):[36]

Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.

Another example can be found in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe when the title character kills an unknown bird for food but finds "its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing".

Carrion flowers and stinkhorn mushrooms

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Some plants and fungi smell like decomposing carrion and attract insects that aid in reproduction. Plants that exhibit this behavior are known as carrion flowers.[37] Stinkhorn mushrooms are examples of fungi with this characteristic.[37]

Other images

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References

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  1. ^ "Carrion (in Merriam-Webster Dictionary)". Springfield: Merriam-Webster. 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025. See also: "Carrion (in Collins Dictionary)". Glasgow: HarperCollins. 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  2. ^ Whelan, CJ; Wenny, DG; Marquis, RJ (2008). "Ecosystem services provided by birds". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1134 (1): 25–60. Bibcode:2008NYASA1134...25W. doi:10.1196/annals.1439.003. PMID 18566089.
  3. ^ Muñoz-Lozano, C; Martín-Vega, D; Martínez-Carrasco, C; Sánchez-Zapata, JA; Morales-Reyes, Z; Gonzálvez, M; Moleón M (2019). "Avoidance of carnivore carcasses by vertebrate scavengers enables colonization by a diverse community of carrion insects". PLOS ONE. 14 (8) e0221890. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1421890M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221890. PMC 6715269. PMID 31465519.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Hovenden, F (2003). "The carrion eaters". Courtenay: Comox Valley Naturalists Society. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  5. ^ "Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena)". San Diego: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. 2025. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  6. ^ McDougall, L (2004). The Encyclopedia of Tracks and Scats: A Comprehensive Guide to the Trackable Animals of the United States and Canada. Guilford: Globe Pequot Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-59228-070-4.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)". San Diego: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. 2025. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  8. ^ Stegemann, E (2006). "Skull science" (PDF). New York: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  9. ^ Wood, JG (1892). Insects abroad: Being a popular account of foreign insects; their structure, habits and transformations. London: Longmans, Green and Co. pp. 82–. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  10. ^ Ames, C.; Turner, B. (2003). "Low temperature episodes in development of blowflies: implications for postmortem interval estimation". Medical and Veterinary Entomology. 17 (2): 178–186. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2915.2003.00421.x. ISSN 1365-2915. PMID 12823835. S2CID 10805033.
  11. ^ Mondor, EB; Tremblay, MN; Tomberlin, JK; Benbow, EM; Tarone, AM; Crippen, TL (2012). "The ecology of carrion decomposition". Nature Education Knowledge. 3 (10): 21.
  12. ^ Schaefer, JM (1983). "The viability of rabies in carrion". Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings: 288.
  13. ^ Nemeth, NM; Beckett, S; Edwards, E; Klenk, K; Komar, N (2007). "Avian mortality surveillance for West Nile virus in Colorado". American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 76 (3): 431–437. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.431. PMID 17360863.
  14. ^ a b c Cushnie, TP; Luang-In, V; Sexton, DW (2025). "Necrophages and necrophiles: a review of their antibacterial defenses and biotechnological potential". Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. 45 (3): 625–642. doi:10.1080/07388551.2024.2389175. PMID 39198023.
  15. ^ Roepstorff, A; Nansen, P (1998). Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Control of Helminth Parasites of Swine (PDF). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. p. 23. ISBN 978-9-2510-4220-5.
  16. ^ Stewart, GL; Kennedy, RR; Larsen, E (1990). "Infectivity of Trichinella pseudospiralis isolated from carrion". Journal of Parasitology. 76 (5): 750–751. doi:10.2307/3282999. JSTOR 3282999. PMID 2213425.
  17. ^ a b c Kunanusont, C; Limpakarnjanarat, K; Foy, HM (1990). "Outbreak of anthrax in Thailand". Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology. 84 (5): 507–512. doi:10.1080/00034983.1990.11812502. PMID 2124098.
  18. ^ a b c d e Middaugh, J; Lynn, T; Funk, B; Jilly, B; Maslanka, S; McLaughlin, J (2003). "Outbreak of botulism type E associated with eating a beached whale--Western Alaska, July 2002". Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 52 (2): 24–26. PMID 12608715.
  19. ^ Galey, FD; Terra, R; Walker, R; Adaska, J; Etchebarne, MA; Puschner, B; Fisher, E; Whitlock, RH; Rocke, T; Willoughby, D; Tor, E (2000). "Type C botulism in dairy cattle from feed contaminated with a dead cat". Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation. 12 (3): 204–209. Bibcode:2000JVDI...12..204G. doi:10.1177/104063870001200302. PMID 10826832.
  20. ^ Evelsizer, DD; Clark, RG; Bollinger, TK (2010). "Relationships between local carcass density and risk of mortality in molting mallards during avian botulism outbreaks". Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 46 (2): 507–513. doi:10.7589/0090-3558-46.2.507. PMID 20688643.
  21. ^ a b Volsche, S; Hasnain, A (2022). Introduction to Evolution & Human Behavior: An Anthropological and Comparative Approach. Boise (Idaho): Boise State University. pp. 118–119.
  22. ^ a b Little, B (2025). "Early humans may have scavenged more than they hunted". History. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  23. ^ Pobiner, BL (2015). "New actualistic data on the ecology and energetics of hominin scavenging opportunities". Journal of Human Evolution. 80: 1–16. Bibcode:2015JHumE..80....1P. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.06.020.
  24. ^ Rodríguez, J; Hölzchen, E; Caso-Alonso, AI; Berndt, JO; Hertler, C; Timm, IJ; Mateos, A (2023). "Computer simulation of scavenging by hominins and giant hyenas in the late Early Pleistocene". Scientific Reports. 13 (1) 14283. Bibcode:2023NatSR..1314283R. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-39776-1. PMC 10539305. PMID 37770511.
  25. ^ Richards, MP; Trinkaus, E; Smith, FH; Paunović, M; Karavanić, I (2000). "Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: the evidence from stable isotopes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 97 (13): 7663–7666. doi:10.1073/pnas.120178997. PMC 16602. PMID 10852955.
  26. ^ a b Moleón, M; Sánchez-Zapata, JA; Margalida, A; Carrete, M; Owen-Smith, N; Donázar, JA (2014). "Humans and scavengers: the evolution of interactions and ecosystem services". BioScience. 64 (5): 394–403. doi:10.1093/biosci/biu034.
  27. ^ Speth, JD (2017). "Putrid meat and fish in the Eurasian Middle and Upper Paleolithic: are we missing a key part of Neanderthal and Modern Human diet?". PaleoAnthropology. 2017: 44–72. doi:10.4207/PA.2017.ART105 (inactive 4 July 2025). Putrefaction also may alter the isotopic composition of the diet. As meat and fish decompose, a variety of volatile compounds are produced, including ammonia. Loss of NH3, along with lesser amounts of two other nitrogenous gases—cadaverine and putrescine—would very likely leave rotted meat and fish enriched in 15N by comparison to the isotopic composition of these foods in their fresh state. Such enrichment may have contributed to the elevated values seen in many Neanderthals, values that are widely taken as prima facie evidence of Neanderthal's status as a 'top predator.'{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
  28. ^ a b O'Connell, JF; Hawkes, K; Blurton-Jones, N (1988). "Hadza hunting, butchering, and bone transport and their archaeological implications". Journal of Anthropological Research. 44 (2): 113–161. doi:10.1086/jar.44.2.3630053.
  29. ^ Gopalakrishnakone, P; Balali-Mood, M; Llewellyn, L; Singh, BR (2021). Biological Toxins and Bioterrorism. Dordrecht: Springer. pp. 29–42. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5869-8_3. ISBN 978-94-007-5869-8.
  30. ^ Schekman, R (2007). "Compounds against botulinum neurotoxin". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104 (8): 2555–2556. doi:10.1073/iti0807104. PMC 1815219.
  31. ^ Cushnie T, Sexton D, Luang-In V (September 2024). "Antibacterial discovery: how scavengers avoid infection and what we can learn from them". The Conversation. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  32. ^ O'Connell, JF; Hawkes, K; Blurton-Jones, N (1988). "Hadza scavenging: implications for Plio/Pleistocene hominid subsistence". Current Anthropology. 29 (2): 356–363. doi:10.1086/203648.
  33. ^ Talmud, Hullin 92b
  34. ^ Mossad HaRav Kook edition of Gaon's commentary to Genesis.
  35. ^ Al-Teinaz, Yunes Ramadan; Spear, Stuart; Abd El-Rahim, Ibrahim H. A., eds. (2019). The Halal Food Handbook. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-1-118-82311-8.
  36. ^ The Life and Death of Julius Caesar. Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.
  37. ^ a b Johnson, SD; Jürgens, A (2010). "Convergent evolution of carrion and faecal scent mimicry in fly-pollinated angiosperm flowers and a stinkhorn fungus". South African Journal of Botany. 76 (4): 796–807. Bibcode:2010SAJB...76..796J. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2010.07.012. ISSN 0254-6299.
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  • The dictionary definition of carrion at Wiktionary
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