Title: (Optional) Describe the stages of postmortem tissue degeneration, including autolysis and putrefaction.
Course: Forensic Technology (15055) > Section: Investigating Medicolegal Death

Description should include

- fresh stage (e.g., livor mortis, rigor mortis, algor mortis, first arriving flies)
- bloat stage (e.g., anaerobic bacteria leads to putrefaction [organ breakdown by bacteria] and autolysis [self-breakdown of individual cells])
- active decay stage (e.g., deflation and larvae feeding)
- advanced decay stage (e.g., most of the flesh and odor is gone, skeletonization)
- dry decay (e.g., nearly odorless, bones, mummification).

Process/Skill Questions:

- Why is it important to be able to distinguish the stages of decomposition?
- What factors can affect the decomposition process?
- What does insect feeding tell us about decomposition?
- What does the location of livor mortis say about the body in death?
- How does rigor mortis tell us about the time of death?