This individual shown here had been dead approximately two weeks in an unheated, unventilated room. Note the extreme discoloration and swelling of the facial area as well as the abdomen. In general, as rigor passes, skin first turns green at the abdomen. As discoloration spreads to the rest of the trunk, the body begins to swell because of bacterial methane-gas formation. The bacteria are normal inhabitants of the body. They proliferate after death, and their overgrowth is promoted in warm weather and retarded in cold weather.
The different rates and types of decomposition a body undergoes depend on the environment. Decomposition may not occur evenly throughout the body. For example, decomposition occurs more rapidly in injured areas. If a person is struck on the head and bleed- ing occurs only in that area, decomposition may be much more advanced on the head than on the remainder of the body.
Fig.1 Advanced stages of decomposition.
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