Science is on the trail of a macabre challenge: to dissect in detail what happens to dead animals in the wild. Every death means life for countless other living organisms. It is the initiator of a complex cycle we all depend upon. But despite its importance, we know relatively little about the animals that move in after a body has died, the organisms that radically change the body's chemistry, and the plants that recycle the valuable nutrients contained in every carcass.

Science is on the trail of a macabre challenge: to dissect in detail what happens to dead animals in the wild. Every death means life for countless other living organisms. It is the initiator of a complex cycle we all depend upon. But despite its importance, we know relatively little about the animals that move in after a body has died, the organisms that radically change the body's chemistry, and the plants that recycle the valuable nutrients contained in every carcass.