What happens to body matter after an animal dies?

Answer 1

well it depends really, if its in a regular climate ( sun, air, water, not freezing or like a furnace) then it will be broken down(decompose) into nutrients by saphrophytes( bacteria, funghi and protista), that is if other animals haven't been scavenging off it. However a carcass doesn't necessarily need to have organisms feeding off it to break down, the chemicals in its own body will often decompose the body on their own. Saying that, most of the bacteria that eat you when you die come from your own digestive tract as microbes in your body outnumber the human cells in your body. If the carcass is buried almost immediately in an environment that doesn't get disturbed much, then it will create a fossil as mineral rich water permeates into the gap that the animal has made in the ground (this is over thousands of years..) a body in an anaerobic (no oxygen) environment will still decay as a lot of organisms do not require oxygen to live. However put it in a vacuum and you have no decomposition by organisms, however as mentioned above, the carcass' own bodily fluids will decompose it to some degree. If there is very little heat, the carcass will degrade very slowly as particles don't move quickly in low temperatures. There are food packets discarded by explorers in the Antarctic and Arctic 40 years ago that would still be safe to eat today. However heat does definitely increase decomposition.

Answer 2

Decomposition