To study decomposition processes, scientists from the Australian Taphonomic Experimental Research Center placed cameras in the coffins of the dead and recorded postmortem “dances” – peculiar movements of the arms and legs. The results of the study have been published magazine Forensic Sciences International: Synergy (FSI:Synergy).
Taphonomy (the science that studies the decomposition of dead organisms) is important for the restoration of paleobiocenoses and, through them, the living conditions and sedimentation processes of organisms in the region of the ecosystems (biocenoses) of the past, fossil animals and fossil plants. It is located.
Filming took 2.5 years, with the camera turned on every half hour and scientists compiling time-lapses from the footage. It shows dead people’s arms and legs moving. Researchers suggested that this was due to taphonomic processes occurring in the body of the deceased. It is impossible to notice these movements without a time-lapse.
“During decomposition, the body mummifies, forming ligaments, which causes the arms and legs to move,” the study authors explained.
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