news:4afca217@news.povray.org...
>  Why is it that when a dead animal rots, it's one of the strongest and
> worst smells in existence (so bad that it even sticks to any surfaces
> nearby and is extremely hard to get rid of), but when a dead tree rots,
> the smell is not bad at all (in fact, it could even be considered 
> pleasant)
> and doesn't stick so much?

After death, proteins are hydrolysed and break down into aminoacids and then 
into a variety of toxic, foul-smelling molecules (amines) aptly named 
putrescine, cadaverine and such.
Plants rot too, but because their composition is different (fibre and 
carbohydrates and much less fat and and protein) so the bacteria and fungi 
responsible for the decomposition are not the same and give different 
byproducts.
Why amines are foul-smelling to us may have something to do with evolution 
(i.e. animals associating the smell of death with danger). Note that some 
plants have evolved to produce cadaver smell as a defensive mechanism.

G.

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