No one knows more about corpses than I do! Not for the faint of heart!

Expert of this article: Zhang Yinming, PhD in Forensic Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University

Today, let’s talk about the topic of corpses.

You may have seen corpse models in movies, TV shows, and variety shows. In many people's impression, corpses are kept in a certain posture, such as lying down.

In fact, corpses will present various forms when they die in different environments, and these different forms often tell what the person experienced before death.

Image source: Screenshot of variety show

Although the title of this article advises the faint of heart to read with caution, the content is not scary at all (PS: the editor guarantees that the real pictures are quite scary, so I used mild and irrelevant pictures). After reading it, you may love life more, cherish the present, and have awe for the forensic profession.

01

What forms do corpses take?

The variety of corpse forms depends mainly on what the person experienced before and after death.

What did he experience before he died?

If a person has done strenuous exercise or is in high mental stress before death, he or she can keep the movements and postures at the time of death after death. This is called corpse spasm. For example, a mother who died in an earthquake hugs her child tightly.

If TA dies in low temperature, the body's temperature regulation function will be paralyzed, resulting in hallucinations of heat, abnormal undressing, and a wry smile on the face.

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If the person dies in a fire, the muscle protein will coagulate, the skeletal muscles will contract, and you will see the fist-fighting posture.

If the person dies in water, water enters the skin, the stratum corneum softens, swells, and wrinkles, forming washerwoman's hands. When the epidermis and dermis peel off, drowning gloves appear.

What did he experience after his death?

When a person dies, blood stops flowing and accumulates in the uncompressed blood vessels in the lower part of the body under the action of gravity, forming livor mortis. For example, the bright red, cherry red or gray-brown livor mortis mentioned in crime dramas and variety shows. The different colors of livor mortis tell us what the person experienced before he died...

When a person dies, he or she cannot maintain muscle strength and tension, and muscle relaxation occurs, such as eyes slightly open and mouth open. In movies and TV shows, the heroine who dies in the arms of the hero may have drooping limbs and head tilted back.

After the muscles relax, the various muscle groups of the body gradually stiffen, the joints become fixed, and rigor mortis forms, and the last posture before death will be fixed.

When the dead time gets longer, it becomes a culture medium for microorganisms.

Bacteria multiply, biological macromolecules are broken down, and corruption begins. The sulfur element in the protein is converted into hydrogen sulfide and other gases (rotten egg smell), and the stench of corpses appears; hemoglobin is sulfurized and turns green, forming a corpse green and corrupt vein network. (For this kind of olfactory stimulation, friends can use meat fillings to simulate the smell of corruption~)

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When corruption spreads to the whole body, the corrupt gases swell the entire body, which is called gigantism. The gases will compress the internal organs and make them fall out of the body, and may also feed other creatures such as maggots, flies, rats, jackals, vultures, etc.

As time passes after death, the decayed soft tissue softens, liquefies, disappears, and eventually turns into bones.

If time continues to extend, fossils will be formed, just like the Peking Man, Upper Cave Man, Dingcun Man, Maba Man, Yuanmou Man...

02

What are the special corpse phenomena?

Dry environment

The body is placed in a ventilated, dry and hot environment, where the water evaporates quickly and cannot serve as a culture medium for microorganisms. It does not decay and can be preserved in a dried state, such as the Egyptian mummies and the mummies exhibited in the Xinjiang Museum.

Low temperature environment

Extremely low temperatures inhibit the growth of microorganisms, so corpses can be well preserved. In September 1991, the 5,300-year-old Ötzi the Iceman was discovered in western Austria, and scholars also found information about his cause of death and his last meal.

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Other types

There is also a special type of preserved corpse, such as Lady Xin Zhui from Mawangdui in Hunan Province, which has been preserved so fresh and complete after more than 2,000 years. The fundamental reason for this is still unknown, but it is inferred that it is related to the fact that the coffin was buried deep underground and was tightly sealed.

03

Can the corpse still move?

In some cases, yes.

Remember when frogs died, they could react? People can do the same. For frogs, this reaction is the scratching reflex; for people, it is the transcendence reflex.

The supervital response is a phenomenon in which tissues, organs, and cells can still maintain certain life functions and respond to stimuli for a short period of time after the death of the body, such as stimulating skeletal muscle contraction and intestinal peristalsis.

Of course, it is also possible that the person is not dead, but is in a state of suspended animation.

Suspended death is a state in which vital activities are highly suppressed and routine clinical methods cannot detect vital signs. At this time, a thin thread is used to tie the finger, and after a few minutes, the finger tip will appear cyanotic and swollen. In some cases, individuals in a state of suspended death can be revived through timely and effective rescue.

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04

What happens if you don't drain your urine and feces before you die?

After death, due to muscle relaxation, a small amount of secretions and excretions will be discharged from the body, such as drooling and enuresis.

When the giant view appears, the gas presses the internal organs, and you can see the tongue sticking out of the mouth, and the uterus and intestines protruding from the body. But this force is limited after all, and most of the secretions or excretions will remain in the body, the large intestine returns to the large intestine, and the bladder returns to the bladder.

Although the shapes of corpses are varied, in the eyes of forensic workers, every detail on the corpse honestly tells the story of its owner.

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