Given that this must have happened during a single season (yes, marsh water is typically low oxygen and could slow decomposition, but it wouldn’t look that good if it was several seasons old, especially as internal bacteria would decompose the body regardless, make it bloat, float belly-up and likely burst, ++), I think putting this down to rotting/decomposing is… unlikely? Sure, it definitely played some role, but that skeleton has more likely than not been picked clean by scavengers more than it has been exposed through decomposition (particularly in winter!). Still fascinating, but… yeah. Decomposition alone doesn’t produce squeaky-clean skeletal structures in a matter of weeks or months.
1 Like