Validation studies on dinucleotide STRs for forensic identification of black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis

Humans Are Animals, Too: Critical Commonalities and Differences Between Human and Wildlife Forensic Genetics

“…In wildlife forensics, since few laboratories perform STR analyses for the same species, there is only rare incentive or support to develop standardized loci, kits, and associated databases. While STR markers have been developed on thousands of nonhuman species for research, there are likely only dozens of taxa for which these markers have been validated and analyzed for forensic purposes . A few domesticated taxa have had core loci proposed ; among those, only horses ( Equus caballus ), cows ( Bos taurus ), and dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ) have commercial kits available (StockMarks™ Canine, Bovine, and Equine Kits; Canine ISAG STR Parentage Kit; Canine Genotypes Panel 1.1 and 2.1; and Bovine Genotypes Panel 1.2 Kits; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA).…”

“…In general, validation techniques are very similar to those of human forensic science, though wildlife presents unique challenges, detailed below (also see Ref. ). Table highlights the differences between validation in human and wildlife forensics.…”

“…If published markers do not exist or are not suitable for forensic use, laboratories must develop and validate their own sex identification markers, STRs, and/or SNP loci for each species of interest.…”

“…Loci can be searched against assembled genomes of the closest related species to attempt to determine chromosomal locations, though this does not always return unambiguous results . New loci must be tested for conformance to Hardy–Weinberg expectations to demonstrate the markers do not exhibit problems such as linkage disequilibrium or null alleles, and to characterize population structure . Additionally, it can be hard or impossible to test heritability, as pedigrees in wild animals are often unknown, and it is difficult to obtain samples from families.…”

Knowing Is Better Than Wondering. The Cataloging of Natural Heritage between Museum Studies and Forensic Sciences

“…Viscardi [54] also mentioned rumors about destroying rhino horns kept in museum collections to minimize the chances of being targeted. The author strongly rejected this possibility since museum objects such as rhino horns are polysemic and thus represent information carriers for unique historical and scientific investigations, even from the perspective of deterring future illegal trafficking [e.g., [62][63]. The guidance then advised to alert staff about the robberies and to pay attention to any suspicious behavior.…”