Carrion

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File:WedgetailEagleCarrion.jpg
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
Zoarcid fish feeding on the carrion of a mobulid ray.

Carrion (Template:Etymology), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals.

Overview

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,[1] hyenas,[2] Virginia opossum,[3] Tasmanian devils,[4] coyotes[5] and Komodo dragons. Many invertebrates, such as the carrion and burying beetles,[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

Carrion can harbor many infectious and disease-causing agents including viruses (e.g. rabies virus, West Nile virus),[9][10] bacteria (e.g. Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Listeria monocytogenes, Pasteurella multocida),[11] bacterial toxins (e.g. botulinum)[11] and helminths (e.g. Trichinella species).[12][13] Several outbreaks of disease, attributed to direct or indirect contact with carrion, have been reported in humans[14][15] and animals.[16][17]

Consumption by humans

Humans, distinct among primates, have evolved a highly acidic stomach environment with a pH of 1–2, akin to that of carrion-feeding vultures, which effectively neutralizes many pathogens found in decaying meat.[18] This physiological adaptation likely facilitated the inclusion of carrion in the ancestral human diet, offering a survival advantage by expanding dietary options during periods of scarcity and reducing risks from microbial contamination.[19][20]

Furthermore, numerous civilizations have refined techniques for controlled meat fermentation, producing foods such as European sausages, Inuit igunaq, and Icelandic hákarl, which reflect a deep cultural history of safely consuming partially decayed meat.[21][22] These practices underscore humanity's evolutionary and cultural adaptations to carrion consumption, transforming a potentially hazardous food source into a nutritionally viable and culturally significant dietary component.[23]

In religious literature

In Noahide law

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The thirty-count laws of Ulla (Talmudist) include the prohibition of humans consuming carrion.[24] This count is in addition to the standard seven law count and has been recentlyTemplate:When published from the Judeo-Arabic writing of Shmuel ben Hophni Gaon after having been lost for centuries.[25]

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.[26]

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):[27]

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

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.[28] Stinkhorn mushrooms are examples of fungi with this characteristic.[28]

Other images

References

Template:Reflist

External links

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  1. ↑ Hovenden, Frank. The Carrion Eaters Template:Webarchive. Comox Valley Naturalists Society. 7 May 2010.
  2. ↑ "San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Striped hyena". San Diego Zoo. 7 May 2010.
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Dead link
  4. ↑ "San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Tasmanian Devil". San Diego Zoo. 7 May 2010.
  5. ↑ Stegemann, Eileen. "Skull Science: Coyote". NYS Department of Environmental Conservation April 2006
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Beasley, D. E., Koltz, A. M., Lambert, J. E., Fierer, N., & Dunn, R. R. (2015). The evolution of stomach acidity and its relevance to the human microbiome. PLOS ONE, 10(7), e0134116. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134116
  19. ↑ Blum, J. C., & Nesse, R. M. (2010). The evolutionary significance of human dietary adaptations to meat consumption. Journal of Human Evolution, 58(4), 292–300. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.01.005
  20. ↑ Carmody, R. N., & Wrangham, R. W. (2009). The energetic significance of cooking and scavenging in human evolution. Journal of Human Evolution, 57(4), 379–391. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.02.011
  21. ↑ Leroy, F., Geyzen, A., Scholliers, P., & Vuyst, L. D. (2015). Fermented meats and the anthropology of controlled decay. Food, Culture & Society, 18(2), 205–224. doi:10.2752/175174415X14180391604356
  22. ↑ Kristjánsson, T., & Stefánsson, G. (2017). Traditional Icelandic food: The role of fermentation in dietary practices. Scandinavian Journal of Food Studies, 2(1), 45–59.
  23. ↑ Speth, J. D. (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.ART104
  24. ↑ Talmud, Hullin 92b
  25. ↑ Mossad HaRav Kook edition of Gaon's commentary to Genesis.
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ The Life and Death of Julius Caesar. Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.
  28. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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