Histerids are predatory beetles that can be found in almost every known environment and are of potential importance for forensic entomology. We compiled 990 records of necrophilous Histeridae in carrion from over 139 published papers, and representing five subfamilies, 42 genera and 235 species. The most representative subfamilies were Saprininae and Histerinae (together representing 92% of all records). Distributional data for all species includes 73 countries in seven geopolitical regions or continents with Europe, North America and South America being the most represented.