Decomposition
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Decomposition is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a
African buffalo skull decomposing in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
A rotten apple after it fell from a tree
Decomposing fallen nurse log in a forest
Ants eating a dead snake
Putrefaction
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Putrefaction is the fifth stage of death, following pallor mortis, livor mortis, algor mortis, and rigor mortis. This process references the breaking down of a body of an animal post-mortem. In broad
Decomposition
…will begin at the moment of death, caused by two factors: autolysis, the breaking down of tissues by the body's own internal chemicals and enzymes, and putrefaction, the breakdown of tissues by bacteria. These processes release compounds such as cadaverine and putrescine, that are the chief source of the unmistakably…
Putrefaction, the eighth alchemical key of Basil Valentine, 1678, Chemical Heritage Foundation