title: A Systematic Review of Carrion Eaters' Adaptations to Avoid Sickness.
abstract: Species that scavenge on dead animals are exposed to enhanced disease risks. Eight hypotheses have been suggested to explain how scavengers avoid becoming sick from their diet. We conducted a systematic review of the literature and found correlative support for four of the eight hypotheses but limited evidence of systematic studies of the hypotheses. We found no support that using urine to sterilize carcasses, having bald heads, eating rapidly, or food-washing behavior reduced disease risk in carrion eaters. With the exception of food washing, none of these hypotheses have been properly evaluated as an adaptation to avoid sickness from carrion. There is some support for having a specialized microbiome, having enhanced immunologic defenses, avoiding rotten food, and maintaining a low gastric pH to eliminate pathogens. Specialized immunologic defenses and having a low pH have the most support, but the diversity of mechanisms suggests that there is a great opportunity for even more detailed study. Increased knowledge in these mechanisms may provide biomimetic insights to help combat foodborne illnesses and enhance health.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095-1606, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Blumstein
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095-1606, USA.
authors.forename: Tiana N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Rangchi
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095-1606, USA.
authors.forename: Tiandra
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095-1606, USA.
authors.forename: Fabrine Souza
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: De Andrade
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095-1606, USA.|2 The David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Natterson-Horowitz
mesh_terms: D000820:Animal Diseases; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D004435:Eating; D005247:Feeding Behavior
keywords: Carrion eaters; disease avoidance adaptations; scavengers; systematic reviews