necrophage
thumb|250x250px|Carcass of a shrew surrounded by multiple necrophages, including a blow fly and [[burying beetle.]] Necrophages (also known as carrion feeders) are animals that feed on decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses or corpses. The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and , meaning 'to eat'. Many hundreds of necrophagous species have been identified including invertebrates in the insect, malacostracan and gastropod classes and vertebrates such as vultures, hyenas, quolls and wolves.
Article
27 sectionsContents
- Classification
- Invertebrates
- Flies
- Bees
- Beetles
- Marine snails
- Other marine invertebrates
- Vertebrates
- Vultures
- Other birds
- Monitor lizards
- Coyotes, wolves and other canids
- Possums, quolls and Tasmanian devils
- Hagfish
- Current roles and uses
- Maggot therapy
- Forensic entomology
- Waste management
- Skeleton preparation
- Sky burial
- Other possible uses
- Drug and biomaterial development
- Crop development
- Image and video gallery
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|250x250px|Carcass of a shrew surrounded by multiple necrophages, including a blow fly and [[burying beetle.]] Necrophages (also known as carrion feeders) are animals that feed on decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses or corpses. The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and , meaning 'to eat'. Many hundreds of necrophagous species have been identified including invertebrates in the insect, malacostracan and gastropod classes and vertebrates such as vultures, hyenas, quolls and wolves.
Necrophagous insects are important in forensic science as the presence of some species (e.g. Calliphora vomitoria) in a body, coupled with information on their development stage (e.g. egg, larva, pupa), can yield information on time of death. Information on the insect species present can also be used as evidence that a body has been moved, and analysis of insect tissue can be used as evidence that drugs or other substances were in the body.