Recycling in the Rainforest

While hiking in the forest, my friends Jackie and Erika came upon this intact skeleton of an ocelot.  There are so many organisms on BCI that are decomposers that it only takes a few weeks for the remains of a dead animal to be recycled.  Many animals, large and small, benefit from another animal’s demise.  Turkey vultures (very large birds) might be first on the scene, followed by smaller creatures and finally the microscopic decomposers arrive to finish the decomposition process.  This is Mother Nature’s way of reusing and recycling nutrients. 

Finding a skeleton also allows scientists to study lifestyle and eating habits of this ocelot.  Jackie was surprised when she looked inside its mouth and found several missing or broken teeth, especially the important large canines that ocelots use to catch their prey and the carnassal teeth that are used for tearing their food like a pair scissors.  Notice in the photo that the eye sockets are both in the front of the skull.  This is a good indication that this predator had good stereoscopic vision.

- Fran Zakutansky