Incomplete skeletonization of a forearm due to post-mortem animal scavenging by a domestic German Shepherd. Skeletonization (synonym: skeletalization) is the total or partial loss of soft tissue (complete or incomplete skeletonization, respectively) with resultant exposure of bones. Incomplete skeletonization may proceed to complete skeletonization but this does not necessarily take place since only discrete portions of the body may be exposed to the proper environmental conditions.
Fig.1 Incomplete skeletonization of a forearm due to post-mortem animal scavenging by a domestic German Shepherd.
The length of the postmortem interval needed for skeletonization of a body or parts of it is highly variable and mainly depends on the ambient temperature, insect colonization of the body, and scavenger activity. Under warm to hot environmental conditions, and increasingly under the influence of moisture, aerobic bacterial activity from the outside is accelerated with resultant advanced manifestation of odor of the body, attracting insects and scavengers to the body.
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