The decomposition of organic matter (i.e., detritus) is a crucial part of the cycling of energy and nutrients in all ecosystems (Moore et al., 2004;Swift et al., 1979). Up to 90% of the detritus pool consists of plant matter, which represents an enormous quantity in comparison with animal detritus (Barton et al., 2013;Swift et al., 1979). Despite being such a disproportionally small part of the overall detritus pool, animal detritus, predominantly in the form of carcasses, has been shown to largely affect ecological communities (e.g., Barton et al., 2013;Barton et al., 2019;Benbow et al., 2019), for instance as nutrient-rich food source for many organisms (Schoenly & Reid, 1983), through its role in the nutrient cycle (e.g., Benbow et al., 2019;Parmenter & MacMahon, 2009), and by stabilizing food webs (Wilson & Wolkovich, 2011).The large impact that carcasses may have on ecosystem functioning can be attributed to the ubiquitous nature of the scavenging