Carcasses of adult African elephants (Loxodonta africana), as well as those of juveniles and subadults under certain conditions, often persist long enough to allow members of the blowfly family (Calliphoridae) to complete their life cycle en masse before the tissues are fully consumed and the skeletons disarticulated. The presence of tens of thousands of blowflies and other carrion‐associated arthropods attracts species that are typically unaffiliated with carrion, such as the superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus) shown here.

This relationship may be more functionally important than it first appears. Each year, the availability of elephant carrion peaks during dry seasons, which bookend the wet seasons when superb starlings breed. The amount of seasonal rainfall influences insect population size, which in turn impacts the fitness of superb starlings (Rubenstein 2015; doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107338357.012). Elephant carcasses may serve as reliable resource hotspots for superb starlings foraging during dry seasons. Given the persistence of carcasses and the presence of their accompanying arthropods, these hotspots may remain valuable to the starlings into the early portion of their breeding seasons.

Although the arthropod‐rich elephant carcasses likely provide fitness benefits to superb starlings and other insectivorous birds, these sites are not without peril. Predators (including Verreaux's eagle‐owl [Bubo lacteus]) are also attracted by the concentration of prey at carcasses. Carrion ecology is a burgeoning field, and an improved, comprehensive understanding of the effects of carcasses within ecosystems is needed.

成年非洲象（Loxodonta africana）的尸体，以及在某些条件下的少年和亚成体的尸体，通常存留足够长的时间，以使蝇蝇科（Calliphoridae）的成员能够在它们的组织被完全消耗并完全消耗之前完成其整个生命周期。骨骼脱节。成千上万的蝇蝇和其他与腐肉相关的节肢动物的存在吸引了通常与腐肉无关的物种，例如这里显示的极好的star鸟（Lamprotornis superbus）。

这种关系在功能上可能比它最初看起来更重要。每年，大象腐肉的供应量都在旱季达到顶峰，而精湛的star鸟繁殖时则挡住了雨季。季节性降雨的数量会影响昆虫的种群数量，进而影响到优质八哥的适应性（Rubenstein 2015； doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107338357.07.0）。象cas体可以作为可靠的资源热点，在旱季觅食一流的八哥。考虑到尸体的持久性和伴随的节肢动物的存在，这些热点对于star鸟进入繁殖季节初期可能仍然很有价值。

尽管节肢动物富含大象的尸体可能为雄性八哥和其他食虫鸟提供健身益处，但这些地方并非没有危险。食肉动物（包括Verreaux的鹰owl [ Bubo lacteus ]）也被by体集中的猎物所吸引。腐肉生态学是一个新兴领域，因此需要对cas体在生态系统中的作用有更好的全面了解。