Forensic science international. Animals and environments最新文献

{"title":"Assessing the impact of habitat and captivity status on volatilome profiles of the illegally traded shingleback, Tiliqua rugosa","authors":"Amber O. Brown ,&nbsp;Greta J. Frankham ,&nbsp;Barbara H. Stuart ,&nbsp;Maiken Ueland","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100071","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Volatilomics is the study of the total biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) produced by an organism. This field has been used to assess organism and ecosystem health, as well as determine BVOC biomarkers for forensic purposes, including the detection of human remains, ignitable liquid residues and illicit drugs. For volatilomics to be applied in wildlife-victim casework (<em>e.g.</em> the illegal wildlife trade) a large reference database must be collected across each targeted species range. Adequate sample sizes must be collected from different habitats spanning across the species range of the targeted species to evaluate volatilome variability associated with different environmental and dietary characteristics. This will allow for assessment of chemical diversity and the determination of BVOC biomarkers that are relevant to wildlife forensic cases (<em>e.g.</em> detection, species identification, geographic origin assessment). This study collected the first live animal volatilome database, using the highly trafficked and widely distributed Australian shingleback lizard (<em>Tiliqua rugosa</em>). Optimised thermal desorption and analysis methods were used to examine 127 wild shingleback volatilome samples collected from sites across New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia and 28 volatilome samples from captive shinglebacks. The results demonstrated that volatilome profiles and chemical diversity differed across each sampling region, potentially related to habitat and diet changes. At least 7 volatilome samples were required to capture chemical diversity in a sampling region. Forty-four tentatively identified BVOCs were shared across all sampling regions and captive animals which may aid in detection purposes. Bioregion-specific BVOCs were also identified, which will also aid in geographic assignment of confiscated individuals. This work demonstrates the importance of sample sizes in capturing chemical diversity within Bioregions prior to downstream volatilome analysis for the establishment of wildlife forensic databases and biomarker selection.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"4 ","pages":"Article 100071"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49845560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determination of postmortem interval (PMI) using histological changes in the cattle skin – A preliminary investigation","authors":"P. Surendhar ,&nbsp;A.W. Lakkawar ,&nbsp;S. Uma ,&nbsp;S. Poobitha ,&nbsp;R. Kumar ,&nbsp;M.G. Nair ,&nbsp;V.A. Chaudhari","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100070","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100070","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The estimation of the Postmortem interval (PMI) holds significant importance in forensic medicine, prompting continuous efforts to establish standardized methods for accuracy. Surprisingly, in the field of veterinary science, there remains a noticeable dearth of research dedicated to estimating the Postmortem interval. Addressing this research gap would undoubtedly enhance our understanding and expertise in veterinary forensics. Currently, there is no existing research on estimating the postmortem interval using histological changes in animal skin. This study involved collecting skin samples from the metatarsal region of 25 cattle carcasses at various postmortem intervals (0, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h) in Puducherry, India. The skin samples were processed using routine histological techniques and special staining methods, such as modified Alcian-Periodic Acid Schiff's (Alcian-PAS) staining and Masson Trichrome (MST), to further analyze the histological changes. Histological changes in the skin showed a normal appearance of the epidermis up to 4 h after death, followed by vacuolations and extensive degeneration leading to complete disintegration. In the dermis, rarefaction and collagenolysis were observed at 8 h post-death, progressing to complete fragmentation at 24 h post-death. The sebaceous glands remained normal until 24 h post-death, then showed autolytic changes resulting in complete disintegration at 48 h post-death. The sweat gland remained normal until 24 h post-death, after which degenerative changes were evident. After death, the hair follicles looked normal up to 8 h, but after that, changes like vacuoles and degeneration were observed. The study scored the skin based on these changes, finding that the dermis showed the strongest correlation with the postmortem interval (PMI), followed by the hair follicle and epidermis. Overall, histological variations in the skin are a reliable indicator for estimating the PMI in cattle carcasses.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"4 ","pages":"Article 100070"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41873109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multi-sensor data loggers identify the location and timing in four poaching cases of the endangered Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata","authors":"Frédéric Jiguet ,&nbsp;Pierrick Bocher ,&nbsp;Aude Bourgeois ,&nbsp;Adrien Chaigne ,&nbsp;Alain Chartier ,&nbsp;Heinz Düttmann ,&nbsp;Camille Duvivier ,&nbsp;Thomas Fartmann ,&nbsp;Charlotte Francesiaz ,&nbsp;Emmanuel Joyeux ,&nbsp;Steffen Kämpfer ,&nbsp;Griet Nijs ,&nbsp;Pierre Rousseau ,&nbsp;Jessica Schmidt ,&nbsp;Geert Spanoghe ,&nbsp;Heike Weber ,&nbsp;Helmut Kruckenberg","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100069","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100069","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Eurasian Curlew is an endangered migratory shorebird benefiting from numerous conservation efforts in Europe, including the remote tracking of individuals to document habitat use and migration strategy. Formerly hunted in France, the species is subject to a hunting ban since 2020. By analysing the data collected by multi-sensor tags deployed on curlews, we were able to document four poaching cases of this endangered migratory bird. Using geolocations, instant acceleration, temperature, battery charge and battery charging current, we determined the place and time where poaching occurred. For comparison, two cases of naturally dropped tags and two cases of naturally predated curlews are also presented. This report is an illustration that the employing of remote multi-sensor tag monitoring has the potential to inform management projects on imperilled or harvestable species affected by illegal or cryptic sources of mortality.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"4 ","pages":"Article 100069"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44103781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic characterization of the Colombian Creole Horse population via STR markers used in filiation tests and equine certification","authors":"Juan Ricardo Sánchez Pérez ,&nbsp;Daniel Molina Palacios ,&nbsp;Juliana Martínez Garro","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100065","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100065","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Genetic parentage tests have great relevance in breed registration processes in equine specimens. In addition, these tests are used to verify progeny genetic accuracy, using microsatellite molecular markers (STR) as a method for individual identification and kinship between individuals. Specifically, we evaluated a Colombian Creole breed equine population, using blood, saliva, and hair samples as sources of DNA. The samples were extracted using Chelex chelating resins. DNA quantification was performed by NanoDrop and amplified by PCR using the 17 STRs included in the Equine Genotypes panel 1.1 kit. Subsequently, electrophoresis was performed and stained with SYBR safe<em>,</em> and genotypes were determined using capillary electrophoresis. Additionally, the allelic and genotypic frequencies were calculated using the GENEPOP software and the previously obtained genetic profiles. Also, the HWE, heterozygosity per locus, inbreeding, and gametic imbalance were estimated. As a result, some genetic markers such as ASB23, ASB17, and LEX3 were not suitable for executing the tests since they biased the population parameters. However, we recommend expanding the equine population and using more STRs to obtain better results in these genetic tests in future population studies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"3 ","pages":"Article 100065"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46897668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An introduction to illegal wildlife trade and its effects on biodiversity and society","authors":"Annika Mozer ,&nbsp;Stefan Prost","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100064","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100064","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) is among the most lucrative illegal industries in the world. Its consequences go far beyond direct effects on the species in trade. In this review, we outline the basics of IWT and discuss its cascading consequences on environments, human lives and communities, national stability, and the economy. In addition, we outline structures used in IWT, from subsistence and local use to more complicated configurations, which can include multiple players. Furthermore, while a small fraction of poaching is opportunistic, most of the international IWT is run by organised crime groups. We outline how IWT can be associated with many different crimes like drug trafficking, corruption, or whitewashing. Additionally, many studies have observed a rapidly increasing trend of online trade with endangered and protected species. Moreover, this review gives a short overview of the situation in the European Union (EU) regarding laws and implementation of CITES and highlights that the EU acts as a major source, transit hub, and consumer in IWT. To address the highly dynamic and complicated problem of IWT, research, knowledge exchange, funding, and collaborations in all fields are necessary.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"3 ","pages":"Article 100064"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49318375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sloths: The unusual hairs from these shaggy heteroclites","authors":"Silvana R. Tridico ,&nbsp;Jitraporn Vongsvivut ,&nbsp;K.Paul Kirkbride","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100063","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100063","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Modern sloths, comprising six species within the Bradipopidae and Choloepodidae families, together with the anteaters and armadillos represent an ancient order of distinctive and remarkable placental mammals. Unfortunately, these animals are both endangered and trafficked. Whilst there have been many in-depth studies surrounding the physical and genetic adaptations of sloths required in order to live an almost exclusive arboreal lifestyle, in comparison, literature describing another remarkable feature that they are renowned for – their hair – are somewhat varied in their conclusions. In keeping with their distinctiveness among mammals, sloths exhibit striking and unusual morphological features in their hair. Microscopical images of these features captured using transmitted visible light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are presented, which it is hoped will assist those carrying out forensic wildlife examinations or those called upon to identify the origins of unknown hairs that they may encounter, for example in cultural heritage investigations or animal tracking studies. Although the hairs from <em>Bradipus</em> spp and <em>Choloeps</em> spp exhibit unusual morphology, the results obtained using both laboratory-based and synchrotron-sourced Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry indicated that the keratin composition of their hairs did not differ greatly from each other or from that found in other mammals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"3 ","pages":"Article 100063"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49516671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differentiation of Galliformes feather samples for species identification using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and chemometric techniques: Application in wildlife forensics","authors":"Preeti Guleria ,&nbsp;Mukesh Kumar Thakar ,&nbsp;Surendra Prakash Goyal","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100066","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"4 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49845561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interlaboratory study to assess the practical utility of OSAC proposed standard 2021-S-0006: Standard for the use of GenBank for taxonomic assignment of wildlife","authors":"Khushi K. Patel,&nbsp;Melissa K.R. Scheible,&nbsp;Kelly A. Meiklejohn","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100067","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"4 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49845579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The development of multiplex STR panels for the identification of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos)","authors":"Darren J. Wostenberg,&nbsp;Mary K. Burnham-Curtis","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2022.100062","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2022.100062","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The ability to reliably genotype individual bald eagle (<em>Haliaeetus leucocephalus</em>) and golden eagle (<em>Aquila chrysaetos</em>) samples has proven to be a valuable forensic tool for investigations of illegal trafficking of eagle feathers and body parts. Twenty STR loci were assembled into three optimized multiplex STR panels. The three STR multiplex PCRs include loci ranging from dinucleotide to pentanucleotide motifs, and both monomorphic and polymorphic amplification. The number of alleles for bald eagles ranged 1–5 (14 polymorphic loci), and the number of alleles for golden eagles ranged from 1 to 11 (16 polymorphic loci). Bald and golden eagles shared alleles at 5 loci, the other 15 loci yielding alleles characteristic of each species. These multiplex panels will be useful in wildlife law enforcement investigations in which eagle feathers and body parts can be identified to species and individuals matched to link a crime scene and eagle victim to a suspect.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"3 ","pages":"Article 100062"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41865181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Timber origin verification using mass spectrometry: Challenges, opportunities, and way forward","authors":"V. Deklerck","doi":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2022.100057","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsiae.2022.100057","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>To fight the illegal timber trade, there is an increasing need to accurately verify or determine the harvest origin of timber. Next to genetic methods, mass spectrometry is being pushed forward as a possible tool towards this problem, especially via stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA) and direct analysis in real time – time of flight mass spectrometry (DART-TOFMS). However, there are key scientific questions that need to be answered before these techniques can be scaled up and routinely and robustly applied. For SIRA, we need to understand better the effects of single ring versus ring pooling, cellulose versus whole wood and species or site differences. For DART-TOFMS, we need to investigate what drives the differences in metabolomic fingerprint between locations, and how much of that difference can be attributed to environmental or genetic effects, especially if we want to advance the use of DART-TOFMS for timber origin questions. In this paper, the important difference between origin verification and determination is discussed, a review of the state of the art is provided and a way forward and experimental design is presented to tackle these scientific questions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":93435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international. Animals and environments","volume":"3 ","pages":"Article 100057"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47436807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}