The authority may now be reduced to a skeleton body where services are commissioned from nearby councils.

BBC: West Somerset Council: Plan for 'skeleton council'

While her body rots encased in its external skeleton, her lingering scent misleadingly tells the colony that all is still well.

ECONOMIST: The secret life of ants

Several of the skeleton's wounds were on parts of the body that should have been covered by armor, and were inconsistent with the magnitude of similar wounds on other battle-damaged corpses of the era.

CNN: February 4, 2013 -- Updated 1805 GMT (0205 HKT)