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Volume 9 Issue 3, March 2024

Vectors of the cadaver decomposition microbiome

Decomposing remains, whether human or other animal, are attractive to organisms across the tree of life because they are concentrated sources of nutrients and moisture. Blow flies (likely to be Chrysomya rufifacies in this photo), for which larval stages are obligate flesh feeders, are key vectors of a specialist carrion decomposer microbial network that appears universal across terrestrial environments.

See Burcham et al.

Credit: David O. Carter, Chaminade University of Honolulu. Cover design: Valentina Monaco.

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