Encyclopedia > Livor mortis

Article Content

Livor mortis

Livor mortis or postmortem lividity, one of the signs of death, is a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body, causing a purplish red discoloration of the skin. This discoloration does not occur in the areas of the body that are in contact with the ground or another object, as the capillaries are compressed.

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!

Featured Article

Photosynthesis

... to reduce carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. Van Neil's proposal was confirmed 20 years later by using the O18 isotope of oxygen as a tracer label to follow the fate of ...