{{Short description|Dead and decaying flesh of an animal}} {{Other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} [[File:WedgetailEagleCarrion.jpg|thumb|A wedge-tailed eagle and carrion (roadkill kangaroo) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.]] [[File:Fish-Food-in-the-Deep-Sea-Revisiting-the-Role-of-Large-Food-Falls-pone.0096016.s005.ogv|thumb|Zoarcid fish feeding on the carrion of a mobulid ray.]]
'''Carrion''' ({{etymology|la|{{wikt-lang|la|caro}}|meat}}), also known as a '''carcass''', is the decaying flesh of dead animals.<ref name=":28">{{cite web|title =Carrion (in Merriam-Webster Dictionary)| url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carrion|publisher=Merriam-Webster|location=Springfield|access-date=July 13, 2025|date=2025}} See also: {{cite web|title =Carrion (in Collins Dictionary)| url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/carrion|publisher=HarperCollins|location=Glasgow|access-date=July 13, 2025|date=2025}}</ref> 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).<ref name=":26">{{cite journal |last1= Whelan| first1=CJ|last2=Wenny|first2=DG|last3=Marquis|first3=RJ|title= Ecosystem services provided by birds|journal= Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences| date=2008|volume=1134|issue=1|pages=25–60|doi= 10.1196/annals.1439.003|pmid=18566089| bibcode=2008NYASA1134...25W}}</ref><ref name=":27">{{cite journal|author=Muñoz-Lozano, C; Martín-Vega, D; Martínez-Carrasco, C; Sánchez-Zapata, JA; Morales-Reyes, Z; Gonzálvez, M; Moleón M|title= Avoidance of carnivore carcasses by vertebrate scavengers enables colonization by a diverse community of carrion insects |journal= PLOS ONE|date=2019|volume=14|issue=8|article-number= e0221890 |doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0221890|doi-access=free|pmid= 31465519|pmc=6715269|bibcode=2019PLoSO..1421890M}}</ref>
Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eating animals include vultures, eagles,<ref name=":29">{{cite web|author= Hovenden, F|title=The carrion eaters|year =2003|publisher= Comox Valley Naturalists Society|location=Courtenay|url= http://www.comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/wild_side/2003/vulture.html|access-date =July 7, 2010|archive-date = June 1, 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100601062448/http://www.comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/wild_side/2003/vulture.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> hyenas,<ref name=":30">{{cite web|title=Striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena'')|year =2025|publisher=San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance|location=San Diego|url= https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/striped-hyena|access-date =July 14, 2025}}</ref> Virginia opossum,<ref name=":34">{{cite book|author= McDougall, L|year =2004|title=The Encyclopedia of Tracks and Scats: A Comprehensive Guide to the Trackable Animals of the United States and Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XOc2_u7z6cC&pg=PA274|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|location=Guilford|isbn=978-1-59228-070-4| page=274}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Tasmanian devils,<ref name=":31">{{cite web|title=Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'')|year =2025|publisher=San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance|location=San Diego|url= https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tasmanian-devil|access-date =July 14, 2025}}</ref> and coyotes.<ref name=":32">{{cite web|author= Stegemann, E|title=Skull science|year =2006|publisher=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation|location=New York|url= https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/skullscience.pdf|access-date =July 14, 2025}}</ref> Many invertebrates, for example carrion beetles, burying beetles,<ref name=":33">{{cite book|author=Wood, JG|year =1892|title=Insects abroad: Being a popular account of foreign insects; their structure, habits and transformations|publisher=Longmans, Green and Co.|location=London|url= https://archive.org/details/insectsabroadb00wood|pages= [https://archive.org/details/insectsabroadb00wood/page/82 82]–|access-date=Nov 27, 2011}}</ref> blow-fly maggots, and flesh-fly maggots, also eat carrion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ames|first1=C.|last2=Turner|first2=B.|s2cid=10805033|date=2003|title=Low temperature episodes in development of blowflies: implications for postmortem interval estimation|journal=Medical and Veterinary Entomology|language=en|volume=17|issue=2|pages=178–186|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2915.2003.00421.x|pmid=12823835|issn=1365-2915}}</ref> All of these animals, together with microbial decomposers, help to recycle nitrogen and carbon in animal remains.<ref name=":35">{{cite journal|author=DeBruyn, JM; Keenan, SW; Taylor, LS|title=From carrion to soil: microbial recycling of animal carcasses|journal=Trends in Microbiology|date=2025|volume=33 |issue=2|pages=194-207|doi=10.1016/j.tim.2024.09.003| pmid=39358066}}</ref>
The act of eating carrion is termed necrophagy or necrophagia,<ref name=":36">{{cite web|title =Necrophagy (in Merriam-Webster Dictionary)|url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necrophagy|publisher=Merriam-Webster|location=Springfield|access-date=August 4, 2025|date=2025}} See also: {{cite web|title =Necrophagia (in Collins Dictionary)|url= https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/necrophagia |publisher= HarperCollins|location=Glasgow|access-date=August 4, 2025|date=2025}}</ref> and animals that do this are described as necrophages or carrion feeders.<ref name=":37">{{cite book|last1 =Park|first1=C|last2=Allaby|first2=M|year =2017|title=Necrophage (in A Dictionary of Environment and Conservation)|page=288|edition=3rd|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn = 9780191826320}} See also: {{cite web|title =Necrophage (in Oxford Reference)|url= https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100226873|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|access-date=January 29, 2026|date=2007}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{cite web|title=Carrion feeder (in Collins English Dictionary)|url= https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/carrion-feeder|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|access-date=January 29, 2026|date=2026}}</ref> The term scavenger is widely used to describe carrion-eating animals too, but this term is broader in scope, encompassing also the consumption of refuse and dead plant material.<ref name=":38">{{cite web|title=Scavenger (in Merriam-Webster Dictionary)|url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scavenger|publisher=Merriam-Webster|location=Springfield|access-date=August 4, 2025|date=2025}} See also: {{cite web|title =Scavenger (in National Geographic)| url= https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/scavenger/|publisher=National Geographic Society|location=Washington DC|access-date=August 4, 2025|date=2025}}</ref>
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.<ref name=":10">{{cite journal |last1=Mondor |first1=EB |last2=Tremblay |first2=MN |last3=Tomberlin|first3=JK|last4=Benbow|first4=EM|last5=Tarone|first5=AM|last6=Crippen|first6=TL|date=2012 |title=The ecology of carrion decomposition|journal=Nature Education Knowledge|volume=3 |issue=10 |pages=21 |url=https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-ecology-of-carrion-decomposition-84118259/}}</ref>
==Disease transmission== [[File:Dead Eurasian Teal (50827714291).jpg|thumb|215x215px|Duck carrion (e.g. ''Anas crecca'' carrion) can harbor ''Clostridium botulinum'' and ''Pasteurella multocida''.<ref name=":03"/>]] Carrion can harbor many infectious and disease-causing agents including viruses (e.g. rabies virus, West Nile virus),<ref name=":01">{{cite journal |last1= Schaefer |first1=JM|title=The viability of rabies in carrion |journal= Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings|date=1983 |volume= |issue= |pages=288|url= https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/gpwdcwp/288/}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{cite journal |last1=Nemeth|first1=NM|last2=Beckett|first2=S|last3=Edwards |first3=E|last4=Klenk|first4=K|last5=Komar|first5=N|title=Avian mortality surveillance for West Nile virus in Colorado|journal=American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene|date=2007|volume=76|issue=3|pages=431–437|doi=10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.431|pmid=17360863}}</ref> bacteria (e.g. ''Bacillus anthracis'', ''Clostridium botulinum'', ''Francisella tularensis'', ''Listeria monocytogenes'', ''Pasteurella multocida'', ''Yersinia pestis''),<ref name=":03">{{cite journal |last1=Cushnie |first1=TP |last2=Luang-In |first2=V |last3=Sexton |first3=DW|title=Necrophages and necrophiles: a review of their antibacterial defenses and biotechnological potential |journal=Critical Reviews in Biotechnology |date=2025 |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=625–642|doi=10.1080/07388551.2024.2389175| pmid=39198023|url= https://zenodo.org/records/13889044}}</ref><ref name=":12" /> bacterial toxins (e.g. botulinum)<ref name=":03" /><ref name=":12" /> and helminths (e.g. ''Trichinella'' species).<ref name=":04">{{cite book|last1=Roepstorff |first1=A| last2=Nansen |first2=P| year=1998|title=Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Control of Helminth Parasites of Swine|page=23|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|location=Rome|isbn=978-9-2510-4220-5 |url=https://www.fao.org/4/x0520e/x0520e.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":05">{{cite journal |last1=Stewart|first1=GL|last2=Kennedy|first2=RR|last3=Larsen |first3=E|title=Infectivity of ''Trichinella pseudospiralis'' isolated from carrion|journal=Journal of Parasitology|date=1990|volume=76|issue=5|pages=750–751|doi=10.2307/3282999|jstor=3282999 |pmid= 2213425|url=https://doi.org/10.2307/3282999|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Several outbreaks of disease, attributed to direct or indirect contact with carrion, have been reported in humans<ref name=":06">{{cite journal|last1=Kunanusont|first1=C |last2=Limpakarnjanarat|first2=K |last3=Foy |first3=HM|title= Outbreak of anthrax in Thailand|journal=Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology|date=1990|volume=84|issue=5|pages=507–512 |doi=10.1080/00034983.1990.11812502|pmid= 2124098}}</ref><ref name=":07">{{cite journal |last1=Middaugh|first1=J |last2=Lynn|first2=T|last3=Funk |first3=B|last4=Jilly |first4=B|last5=Maslanka|first5=S |last6=McLaughlin|first6=J|title=Outbreak of botulism type E associated with eating a beached whale--Western Alaska, July 2002 |journal=Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report |date=2003|volume=52|issue=2|pages=24–26|pmid= 12608715 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5202a2.htm}}</ref><ref name=":43">{{Cite journal|vauthors=Musewa A, Mirembe BB, Monje F, Birungi D, Nanziri C, Aceng FL, Kabwama SN, Kwesiga B, Ndumu DB, Nyakarahuka L, Buule J, Cossaboom CM, Lowe D, Kolton CB, Marston CK, Stoddard RA, Hoffmaster AR, Ario AR, Zhu BP|date=2022|title=Outbreak of cutaneous anthrax associated with handling meat of dead cows in Southwestern Uganda, May 2018|doi=10.1186/s41182-022-00445-0|doi-access=free|pmid=35933401|pmc=9356462|journal=Tropical Medicine and Health|volume=50|pages=52}}</ref> and animals.<ref name=":08">{{cite journal |last1=Galey|first1=FD|last2=Terra|first2=R|last3=Walker |first3=R|last4=Adaska|first4=J|last5=Etchebarne|first5=MA|last6=Puschner|first6=B|last7=Fisher|first7=E|last8=Whitlock|first8=RH|last9=Rocke|first9=T|last10=Willoughby|first10=D|last11=Tor|first11=E|title=Type C botulism in dairy cattle from feed contaminated with a dead cat|journal=Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation|date=2000|volume=12|issue=3|pages=204–209|doi=10.1177/104063870001200302|pmid=10826832|bibcode=2000JVDI...12..204G }}</ref><ref name=":09">{{cite journal |last1=Evelsizer|first1=DD|last2=Clark|first2=RG|last3=Bollinger |first3=TK|title=Relationships between local carcass density and risk of mortality in molting mallards during avian botulism outbreaks|journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases|date=2010|volume=46|issue=2|pages=507–513|doi=10.7589/0090-3558-46.2.507|pmid=20688643}}</ref>
==Consumption as food== ===Consumption by invertebrates=== {{Further|Necrophage#Invertebrates}} [[File:Nicrophorus vespilloides in dead rodent.jpg |thumb|215x215px|Two burying beetles (''Nicrophorus vespilloides'') feeding on rodent carrion.]] Hundreds of invertebrate animals feed on carrion. In terrestrial settings, some ant species eat carrion (e.g. red imported fire ants), as do some bees (i.e. vulture bees), and many beetles (e.g. burying beetles, dermestid beetles, silphine beetles) and flies (e.g. bone skippers, blow flies, flesh flies). Several species rely on carrion for survival or reproduction, including the vulture bee ''Trigona crassipes'', the burying beetle ''Nicrophorus vespilloides'', and the bone skipper fly ''Thyreophora cynophila''.<ref name=":03"/><ref name=":39">{{Cite book| vauthors = Allen JC, Anderson GS, Benecke M et al |title= Forensic Entomology: The Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigations |date=2001|publisher= CRC Press| veditors = Byrd JH, Castner JL |isbn=978-0-8493-8120-1| pages=43-80, 143-176, 177-222, 263-286, 331-340 |location=London}}</ref>
Many aquatic animals also eat carrion. Necrophagous marine invertebrates include cephalopods (e.g. ''Octopus vulgaris''), hermit crabs (e.g. ''Coenobita clypeatus''), star fish (e.g. ''Luidia ciliaris''), whelks (e.g. ''Tritia reticulata''), amphipods (e.g. ''Eurythenes atacamensis''), and annelids (e.g. zombie worms). Necrophagous freshwater invertebrates include the horse leech ''Haemopis marmorata'', the crayfish ''Procambarus clarkii'', and the diving beetle ''Thermonectus succinctus''.<ref name=":03"/><ref name=":40">{{Cite journal|last=Silva-Soares|first=T|date=2019|title=Necrophagy on ''Rhinella granulosa'' (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae) by the aquatic beetle families Hydrophilidae and Dytiscidae (Insecta, Coleoptera) in Caatinga environment, Northeastern Brazil|url=https://www.biotaxa.org/hn/article/view/43969|journal=Herpetology Notes|volume=12|pages=869–872}}</ref>
===Consumption by vertebrates=== {{Further|Necrophage#Vertebrates}} [[File:Breakfast of the wild Boar.jpg|thumb|215x215px|Wild boars (''Sus scrofa'') feeding on deer carrion.]] Large numbers of vertebrate animals feed on carrion, including different species of birds (e.g. cinereous vultures, red-tailed hawks, carrion crows), fish (e.g. black hagfish, abyssal grenadiers), mammals (e.g. spotted hyenas, wild boars), reptiles (e.g. Komodo dragons, brown tree snakes) and even amphibians (e.g. midwife toad larvae, túngara frog larvae).<ref name=":03"/>
With the possible exception of some hagfish species, the only vertebrates known to rely on carrion for survival are the New World vultures (e.g. black vultures) and Old World vultures (e.g. cinereous vultures).<ref name=":03"/>
Most of the animals that eat carrion opportunistically are carnivores (e.g. spotted hyenas, abyssal grenadiers) or omnivores (e.g. wild boars), but some herbivores (e.g. Egyptian mastigures) also eat carrion in times of food scarcity.<ref name=":41">{{Cite journal |last1=Castilla |first1=AM|last2=Richer|first2=R|last3=Herrel|first3=A|last4=Conkey|first4=AAT|last5=Tribuna |first5=J|last6=Al-Thani |first6=M|date=2011 |title=First evidence of scavenging behaviour in the herbivorous lizard ''Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis''|journal=Journal of Arid Environments|volume=75 |issue=7 |pages=671–673 |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.02.005 |issn=0140-1963 |bibcode=2011JArEn..75..671C}}</ref>
===Consumption by early hominins=== 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.<ref name=":16">{{cite book|last1=Volsche|first1=S| last2=Hasnain|first2=A|title=Introduction to Evolution & Human Behavior: An Anthropological and Comparative Approach|pages=118–119|publisher=Boise State University|location=Boise (Idaho)|year=2022| url= https://boisestate.pressbooks.pub/evolutionhumanbehavior/}}</ref><ref name=":17">{{cite web |last1=Little|first1=B|title=Early humans may have scavenged more than they hunted|website=History| date=2025|url= https://www.history.com/articles/prehistoric-human-diet-scavengers-vs-hunters|access-date=July 3, 2025}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":16"/> 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.<ref name=":17"/><ref name=":18">{{cite journal |last1=Pobiner|first1=BL|title=New actualistic data on the ecology and energetics of hominin scavenging opportunities|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|date=2015 |volume=80 |issue=|pages=1–16|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.06.020 |bibcode=2015JHumE..80....1P }}</ref><ref name=":19">{{cite journal |last1=Rodríguez|first1=J|last2=Hölzchen|first2=E |last3=Caso-Alonso |first3=AI|last4= Berndt|first4=JO|last5=Hertler|first5=C|last6=Timm|first6=IJ |last7=Mateos |first7=A|title=Computer simulation of scavenging by hominins and giant hyenas in the late Early Pleistocene|journal=Scientific Reports|date=2023|volume=13|issue=1|article-number=14283|doi=10.1038/s41598-023-39776-1|pmid=37770511|pmc=10539305|bibcode=2023NatSR..1314283R}}</ref>
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.<ref name=":25">{{cite journal |last1= Richards|first1=MP|last2=Trinkaus|first2=E|last3=Smith |first3=FH|last4=Paunović|first4=M|last5=Karavanić|first5=I|title= Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: the evidence from stable isotopes|journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=2000|volume=97|issue=13 |pages=7663–7666|doi=10.1073/pnas.120178997|doi-access=free |pmid=10852955|pmc=16602 }}</ref><ref name=":20">{{cite journal |last1=Moleón|first1=M|last2= Sánchez-Zapata|first2=JA |last3= Margalida |first3=A|last4=Carrete|first4=M|last5=Owen-Smith|first5=N|last6=Donázar|first6=JA |title=Humans and scavengers: the evolution of interactions and ecosystem services|journal= BioScience|date=2014|volume=64|issue=5|pages=394–403|doi=10.1093/biosci/biu034}}</ref> However, this interpretation of the isotopic data has been questioned.<ref name=":23">{{cite journal |last1=Speth|first1=JD|title=Putrid meat and fish in the Eurasian Middle and Upper Paleolithic: are we missing a key part of Neanderthal and Modern Human diet? |journal= PaleoAnthropology|date=2017|volume=2017|pages=44–72|doi=10.4207/PA.2017.ART105|doi-broken-date=4 July 2025 |url= https://www.paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.php/paleo/article/view/752|quote="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 NH<sub>3</sub>, along with lesser amounts of two other nitrogenous gases—cadaverine and putrescine—would very likely leave rotted meat and fish enriched in <sup>15</sup>N 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.’"}}</ref> Later still, hominins turned to herding wild animals and the husbandry of domesticated animals.<ref name=":20"/>
===Consumption by modern humans=== 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),<ref name=":14"/> beached marine mammals (e.g. dead whale)<ref name=":07"/> and dead livestock (e.g. water buffalo).<ref name=":06"/> At least two outbreaks of disease (anthrax and botulism) have been reported, one in 1987, the other in 2002.<ref name=":06"/><ref name=":07"/> According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), additional (unpublished) outbreaks of botulism have occurred from marine carrion consumption.<ref name=":07"/>
Unlike vultures, coyotes and other carrion-eating animals,<ref name=":03"/> humans are extremely sensitive to botulinum toxin.<ref name=":24">{{cite book|last1=Gopalakrishnakone |first1=P| last2=Balali-Mood |first2=M|last3=Llewellyn |first3=L| last4=Singh |first4=BR|year=2021|title= Biological Toxins and Bioterrorism|pages=29–42|publisher=Springer |location=Dordrecht|isbn=978-94-007-5869-8|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-5869-8_3|url=https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-94-007-5869-8_3}}</ref><ref name=":21">{{cite journal |last1= Schekman|first1=R|title=Compounds against botulinum neurotoxin|journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=2007 |volume=104|issue=8|pages=2555–2556|doi=10.1073/iti0807104|pmc=1815219}}</ref> This toxin is produced by ''Clostridium botulinum'', a bacterium found in soil and seabeds that can colonize animal bodies after they’ve died.<ref name=":07"/><ref name=":12">{{cite web|vauthors = Cushnie T, Sexton D, Luang-In V |title = Antibacterial discovery: how scavengers avoid infection and what we can learn from them|url= https://theconversation.com/antibacterial-discovery-how-scavengers-avoid-infection-and-what-we-can-learn-from-them-229828|publisher=The Conversation|access-date=July 3, 2025|date=September 2024}}</ref>
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.<ref name=":14">{{cite journal |last1=O'Connell|first1=JF|last2=Hawkes|first2=K|last3=Blurton-Jones|first3=N|title= Hadza hunting, butchering, and bone transport and their archaeological implications |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research|date=1988 |volume=44 |issue=2|pages=113–161|doi=10.1086/jar.44.2.3630053}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{cite journal |last1=O'Connell|first1=JF|last2=Hawkes|first2=K|last3=Blurton-Jones|first3=N|title= Hadza scavenging: implications for Plio/Pleistocene hominid subsistence |journal=Current Anthropology| date=1988|volume=29|issue=2|pages=356–363|doi=10.1086/203648|quote="Scavenging is a standard part of Hadza foraging. All Hadza monitor the flight of vultures and listen carefully to the night-time calls of lions and hyenas. While hunting, adult men often visit areas where lions have been active, especially during the dry season, when they are likely to be operating near the same water sources. If they suspect a possible scavenging opportunity, Hadza abandon other activities and move quickly to the spot, often at a run. On arrival, they attempt to drive off any predators that are present and appropriate the kill."}}</ref>
==In religious literature== ===In Noahide law=== {{main|Noahide laws}} The thirty-count laws of Ulla (Talmudist) include the prohibition of humans consuming carrion.<ref>Talmud, Hullin 92b</ref> This count is in addition to the standard seven law count and has been recently{{when|date=September 2018}} published from the Judeo-Arabic writing of Shmuel ben Hophni Gaon after having been lost for centuries.<ref>Mossad HaRav Kook edition of Gaon's commentary to Genesis.</ref>
===In Islam=== 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Halal Food Handbook |date=2019 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc |isbn=978-1-118-82311-8 |editor-last=Al-Teinaz |editor-first=Yunes Ramadan |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |editor-last2=Spear |editor-first2=Stuart |editor-last3=Abd El-Rahim |editor-first3=Ibrahim H. A.}}</ref>
==In English literature== 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):<ref>[http://shakespeare.mit.edu/julius_caesar/julius_caesar.3.1.html The Life and Death of Julius Caesar]. Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.</ref>
<blockquote><poem>Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war; That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial.</poem></blockquote>
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== 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.<ref name=":11" /> Stinkhorn mushrooms are examples of fungi with this characteristic.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=SD|last2=Jürgens |first2=A|date=2010 |title=Convergent evolution of carrion and faecal scent mimicry in fly-pollinated angiosperm flowers and a stinkhorn fungus |journal=South African Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=796–807 |doi=10.1016/j.sajb.2010.07.012 |issn=0254-6299 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010SAJB...76..796J }}</ref>
==Other images== <gallery mode="packed"> File:Totes Wildkaninchen.jpg|Rabbit carrion in Germany. File:Lizard roadkill that other animals eat, helping out to clean the environment.jpg|Butterfly puddling on lizard carrion. File:Example of a pig carcass in the bloat stage of decomposition.jpg|Dead pig in the bloat stage of decomposition. File:Dead dog in Ulaanbaatar.jpg|Dog carrion in Mongolia. File:Flies settle on a sheep carrion.jpg|Flies settling on sheep carrion. File:Decomposing possum.jpg|Heavily colonized opossum carrion. </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{wiktionary|carrion}} {{Commons category|Carrion}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1CD6gNmhr0 Decomposition of a baby pig] (a time-lapse video on carrion decomposition) from the Smithsonian Institution * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXm_mNGWlk See what happens when three tons of dead pigs rot in the woods] (a video simulating decomposition after a mass mortality event) from ''National Geographic'' * [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18426160 Examples of bacterial pathogens found in different types of carrion] (incl. wildlife carrion and livestock carrion) from ''Zenodo'' datasets
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Category:Animal death Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Ecology Category:Zoology