Carrion

Carrion(fromLatincaro'meat'), also known as acarcass,is the decaying flesh of dead animals.

Overview

Carrion is an important food source for largecarnivoresandomnivoresin most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (orscavengers) includecrows,vultures,humans,hawks,eagles,^[1]hyenas,^[2]Virginia opossum,^[3]Tasmanian devils,^[4]coyotes^[5]andKomodo dragons.Many invertebrates, such as thecarrion and burying beetles,^[6]as well asmaggotsofcalliphorid flies(such as one of the most important species inCalliphora vomitoria) andflesh-flies,also eat carrion, playing an important role in recycling nitrogen and carbon in animal remains.^[7]

Zoarcid fishfeeding on the carrion of amobulid ray.

Fliessettling on asheepcarrion

Carrion begins to decay at the moment of the animal's death, and it will increasingly attract insects and breedbacteria.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 ofcadaverineandputrescine.

Some plants andfungismell likedecomposingcarrion and attract insects that aid in reproduction. Plants that exhibit this behavior are known ascarrion flowers.Stinkhorn mushroomsare examples of fungi with this characteristic.

Acoyotefeeding onelkcarrion inYellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley during winter.

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 inWilliam Shakespeare's playJulius Caesar(III.i):^[8]

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'sRobinson Crusoewhen the title character kills an unknown bird for food but finds "its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing".

Consumption by humans

In Noahide law

The thirty-count laws ofUlla (Talmudist)include the prohibition of humans consuming carrion.^[9]This count is in addition to the standard seven law count and has been recently^[when?]published from the Judeo-Arabic writing ofShmuel ben Hophni Gaonafter having been lost for centuries.^[10]

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.^[11]

References

^Hovenden, Frank.The Carrion Eaters Archived1 June 2010 at theWayback Machine.Comox Valley Naturalists Society. 7 May 2010.
^"San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Striped hyena".San Diego Zoo. 7 May 2010.
^Len McDougall (2004).The Encyclopedia of Tracks and Scats: A Comprehensive Guide to the Trackable Animals of the United States and Canada.Globe Pequot. p. 274.ISBN 978-1-59228-070-4.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^"San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Tasmanian Devil".San Diego Zoo. 7 May 2010.
^Stegemann, Eileen."Skull Science: Coyote".NYS Department of Environmental Conservation April 2006
^John George Wood (1892).Insects abroad: Being a popular account of foreign insects; their structure, habits and transformations.Longmans. pp.82–.Retrieved27 November2011.
^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.
^The Life and Death of Julius Caesar.Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.
^Talmud, Hullin 92b
^Mossad HaRav Kookedition of Gaon's commentary to Genesis.
^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.

External links

The dictionary definition ofcarrionat Wiktionary

[1] Hovenden, Frank.The Carrion Eaters Archived1 June 2010 at theWayback Machine.Comox Valley Naturalists Society. 7 May 2010.

[2] "San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Striped hyena".San Diego Zoo. 7 May 2010.

[3] Len McDougall (2004).The Encyclopedia of Tracks and Scats: A Comprehensive Guide to the Trackable Animals of the United States and Canada.Globe Pequot. p. 274.ISBN 978-1-59228-070-4.^{[permanent 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] John George Wood (1892).Insects abroad: Being a popular account of foreign insects; their structure, habits and transformations.Longmans. pp.82–.Retrieved27 November2011.

[7] 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.

[8] The Life and Death of Julius Caesar.Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.

[9] Talmud, Hullin 92b

[10] Mossad HaRav Kookedition of Gaon's commentary to Genesis.

[11] 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.

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