Best videos of 2012: Sea lice reduce pig to bones

Joanna Carver, reporter

This underwater pig feast comes in at number 5 in our best videos of 2012 countdown.

Who knew sea lice were so industrious? This time-lapse shows how they quickly devour a dead pig in an experiment probing how bodies decompose underwater. After four days, the carcass is reduced to bones before shrimp sneak in to dine on the cartilage.

The cage prevents large predators like sharks from tucking in. But it doesn't prevent an octopus from trying to access the pig's remains at the end of the clip.

Gail Anderson of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and colleagues are studying the process to see how seasonal changes and depth can affect decomposition. To find out more about the research, check out the original article, "Sea lice mob devours pig from inside out".

If you enjoyed this post, watch an elephant carcass ravaged by wild animals or a dead pig mimic how smokers decay.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/26f8f7a8/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cnstv0C20A120C120Cbest0Evideos0Eof0E20A120Esea0Elice0Efeast0Eon0Epig0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

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