So imagine a fresh corpse. It could be of an animal or human, it doesn't really matter, the stages of decomposition are pretty much the same.
Before anything actually starts to decompose, this thing happens.
After 3-6 hours, the body will undergo something called rigor mortis. This is basically when all of the muscles in the body tense/contract. This happens because as cell organelles deteriorating, they release calcium that binds to proteins. At this point, the body starts to looks quite discoloured and pale.
This stage can be a pain in the butt for morticians if they're trying to dress the corpse for viewing, or just generally working with it, doin ya general mortuary stuffs.
The next stage is bloat, where gasses like methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide begin to accumulate in the abdomen of the body. (This stage smells terrible also, due to all the gasses escaping from all openings in the body...) This gives the corpse it's overall "bloated" appearance.
If you've ever seen roadkill that's looks like it's gonna pop, that's basically what we're talking about here.
The gasses inside the body create natural liquids, and already liquefying tissue becomes frothy. The body may also rupture during this stage.
Pretty nasty.
Next up is active decay.
This is when most maggots, flies and all those weird bugs n stuff come into play. The liquefaction of tissues becomes more apparent during this time.
And lot of mass is lost at this point in time; either eaten or rotted away. (which also makes the corpse smell even worse...ack)
Now for advanced decay. Due to less insects being around the carcass and having less flesh to decompose, this can be a slower process to active decay. If the carcass is located on soil, the area surrounding it will show evidence of vegetation death.
(I haven't been able to find much information about this stage, so sorry for the short explination)
Lastly, dry remains. This is when pretty much all of the soft tissue has decayed, and only the fur/hair, bones and some dry skin may remain. What's left at this point will become sun bleached and/or weathered by the elements. Oh and good news, this stage doesn't smell too bad, so it's a great time for collectors to get bones and such.
So yeah! That's my explination of decomposition. I hope I didn't make it sound too confusing.
The diagram at the top of the chapter may help everything make a bit more sense.
Thanks for reading pals ✌🏻
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fun fact: you're gonna die.
Non-Fiction~irregular uploads, sorry!~ ______________ upcoming chapters: - Death positivity ✨ - Alternative or eco-friendly ways to...be dead. - Saponification, mummification, water corpses. - Body farms/ donating your body to science (I'll be working at writi...
