This Chart I found on the web seems fool proof but it has a couple mistakes on it. First core body temp is much lower! that`s why you can`t locate them with thermal technology unless they are feeding at the moment from a fresh corpse in which case you would be locating the body and not the zombie itself.
Another error in this chart is the statement that their primary weapon are their hands/claws and their mouth secondary. Zombies use their arms only to grab targets, it`s not a weapon. Their only weapon is their mouth and teeth. Stay de hell away from it.
Weak point is in fact the cerebral cortex, you just need to interrupt its functions and you are done, you can shoot, decapitate, blow them with explosives or hit a home run with a baseball bat as long as you damage their cerebral cortex.
Remember Columbus Rule # 2 "Double Tap" Just to be sure, hit them twice!!
Biology of the Zombies
Brain/Nervous System
Cross-sections of a normal brain (l) and a zombie brain (r) show the extensive atrophy of zombie brain tissue |
*There is a reason: The cerebral cortex was still intact*
Sense Organs
"Follow your nose" might be the zombie motto. A zombie's powerful sense of smell compensates for the weakness of their other senses.
- Sight: due to degradation of their corneas, zombies suffer from severe myopia. In addition, they are colorblind.
- Hearing: zombies go almost def but don`t count on that, only happends on 68% of subjects.
- Smell: zombies have even more receptor cells than vampires. If the wind is right, zombies can smell humans from as far as several miles away.
Circulatory System
As anybody who ever emptied his gun into an advancing zombie can tell you, zombies just don't bleed to death. Their circulatory adaptations allow them to survive wounds that would kill a human.
Changes here are of good news-bad news variety. Yes, zombies are stiff-limbed and slow, yes they move along at a shuffle rather than a sprint. But they are also very powerful, with avice-like grip and jaws that can bite through metal.
Muscles/Connective Tissue: zombie muscle fibers become concentrated and take on the consistency of nylon rope. Ligaments and tendons thicken.
Skeletal system: important modifications occur to the zombie jaw. Extra bone is deposited on the lower jaw to form an attachment point for larger chewing muscles. These adaptations enable zombies to bite through skull and bone and get at the pillars of their diet: brains and bone marrow, This is not absolutely true tho, most zombies have normal jaws, but we have seen some modifications in some subjects we don`t know if they are in a mutation state or simply evolving.
Teeth: zombie teeth are not adapted to the powerful forces exerted on them by the jaw. Teeth crack and fall out, and the holes they leave behind leak sludge-like zombie blood. Eventually, all their teeth are gone, and a zombie is forced to chew with its exposed jawbones.
Hair: zombies who live long enough will lose all their hair.
Skin: decay sets in shortly after transformation. The skin turns leathery, then rots away.
Aging and Life Expectancy
The great irony of zombie life is that even as they voraciously feed, they too are being fed upon. A zombie's body is like a big petri dish serving host to everything from bacteria and fungi to maggots and ants. The resulting state of putrefication means, as terrifying as a zombie may be to the eye, it actually commits far worse offenses to the nose.
As anybody who ever emptied his gun into an advancing zombie can tell you, zombies just don't bleed to death. Their circulatory adaptations allow them to survive wounds that would kill a human.
- Blood: zombie blood is thick and black, hence the nickname, "zombie oil."
- Heart: zombie blood is circulated by skeletal muscles rather than the heart.
Changes here are of good news-bad news variety. Yes, zombies are stiff-limbed and slow, yes they move along at a shuffle rather than a sprint. But they are also very powerful, with a
Normal jaw (l); Zombie jaw (r); note the larger jawbone and thicker muscle of the zom |
Aging and Life Expectancy
The great irony of zombie life is that even as they voraciously feed, they too are being fed upon. A zombie's body is like a big petri dish serving host to everything from bacteria and fungi to maggots and ants. The resulting state of putrefication means, as terrifying as a zombie may be to the eye, it actually commits far worse offenses to the nose.
Stages I through III of necrotic degradation |
Zombie Sociology
The Newly Transformed
Zombie, 1954 (Courtesy: Coroner's Office, Macon County, Georgia, ) |
The Pack
Pecking Order
There is a pecking order in a zombie pack. A group of stronger, quicker zombies will take the lead in hunting and will eat first. Any zombie who disrupts their feeding will be dealt with viciously. Less powerful zombies seem to accept their fate and try to make the best of it zombies are relatively guileless. All zombies possess a chilling single-mindedness when it comes to hunting. There is no such thing as a cowardly zombie. Hunting
Zombies show a surprising adaptability when it comes to hunting. Contrary to popular opinion, they are observant, fast learners. A newly transformed zombie may stagger around mindlessly for a few days, but once it joins a pack its learning curve rises sharply. Since they cannot speak, zombies communicate with gestures. A favorite hunting strategy is to have a few pack members drive prey towards an area where many others are hiding.
The cooperation zombies show in hunting generally vanishes when they start feeding. Many zombies receive serious wounds from other zombies during a feeding frenzy. Hungry zombies leave nothing but the bones, which they break open to get to the marrow. Well fed zombies will stick to the nutritious brain and bone marrow, leaving the rest of the viscera for the weaker members of the pack. Only in times when the food supply is plentiful will a zombie share.
Zombies have a very limited range, a zombie is lucky to cover a few miles in 24 hours. Given swath of real estate can only support so many zombies. For this reason, zombie plagues tend to be self regulating. A zombie plague will usually start fast, hit a plateau, then die out quickly as food supply diminishes.
Special Thanx to FVZA.org