What’s the difference between decomposition and putrefaction?

Putrefaction is one stage in the decomposition of the body of a dead animal; it can be described as the decomposition of proteins, which results in the eventual breakdown of cohesion between tissues and liquification of most organs.

Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death. Although no two organisms decompose in the same way, they all undergo the same sequential stages of decomposition. The science which studies decomposition is generally referred to as taphonomy from the Greek word taphos, meaning tomb.

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What’s the difference between decomposition and putrefaction?

This has always confused me.

Decomposition is the natural process of dead animal or plant tissue being rotted or broken down. This process is carried out by invertebrates, fungi and bacteria. The result of decomposition is that the building blocks required for life can be recycled.

Example: The body of a dead rabbit after several weeks of decomposition. Most of the flesh has been eaten by beetles, beetle larvae, fly maggots, carnivorous slugs and bacteria. The outline of the skeleton is starting to appear.

Some dead animals will be eaten by scavenging animals such as foxes or crows. Those which are not eaten by larger animals are quickly decomposed or broken down into their constituent chemicals by a host of creatures including beetles and their larva, flies, maggots and worms as well as bacteria, moulds and fungi. Collectively these are known as decomposers. The lives of many of these organisms depends on the death of others.

During the process of decomposition, the decomposers provide food for themselves by extracting chemicals from the dead bodies or organic wastes; using these to produce energy. The decomposers will then produce waste of their own. In turn, this will also decompose, eventually returning nutrients to the soil. These nutrients can then be taken up by the roots of living plants enabling them to grow and develop, so that organic material is naturally recycled. Virtually nothing goes to waste in nature. When an animal dies and decomposes, usually only the bones remain, but even these will decompose over a much longer period of time.

To enable successful birth and growth of young plants and animals, older specimens must die and decompose. This limits the competition for resources and provides a fresh source of essential nutrients for new generations of life.

Putrefaction:

It is decomposition of organic matter; especially : the typically anaerobic splitting of proteins by bacteria and fungi with the formation of foul-smelling incompletely oxidized products .

The breakdown of proteins in a decomposing body is a spontaneously occurring process, though one which occurs at an increased rate as anaerobic microorganisms, already present in the animal’s digestive tract when it was alive, consume and digest the proteins that comprise the body’s cells. As cells and their proteins are digested, the body’s tissues are left in a weakened state.

Proteins are broken down into smaller components which are excreted by the bacteria. The excreted components, which include gases and amines like putrescine and cadaverine, are why a decomposing body has a putrid odor.

The gases are initially constrained to the body cavities, but diffuse into other tissues and into the circulatory system. Once in the body’s blood vessels, the gases can then spread to other parts of the body. The result is macroscopically visible bloating of the torso and then limbs.

The increased internal pressure due to the increased volume of gas also helps to weaken and separate tissues. Eventually, some part of the body will rupture, releasing the gas.

As the bacteria consume all available proteins, the process of decomposition progresses into the next stage: skeletonization.

The term decomposition is a generalized term for the overall process from the death of the individual until skeletonization of the body; putrefaction is only one stage of that process. Material that is subject to putrefaction is called putrescible.

What Is Putrefaction