Criteria for identifying bone modification by termites in the fossil record

Backwell, Lucinda; Parkinson, Alexander H.; Roberts, Eric M.; d’Errico, Francesco; Huchet, Jean‐Bernard

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.03.032

Cited by 95 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Among these, 7 were case reports [13][14][15][16][17][18][19], 3 case series [6,20,21], 19 original articles [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40], 4 were technical notes [41][42][43][44] and 8 were reviews [1,10,[45][46][47][48][49][50].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crime scene and body alterations caused by arthropods: implications in death investigation

et al. 2018

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The activity of arthropods on corpses has been largely investigated, since they can produce information to reconstruct the perimortem events. However, the feeding/movement activity of insects around the crime scene, among the clothes and on the body, can also cause some alterations that can lead to wrong reconstruction and misinterpretations. This article summarises all the postmortem arthropods artefacts related to the scene (i.e. fly artefacts and floor stripes) and the body (i.e. skin and other soft tissue alterations, bone alterations and hair alterations) that can mislead the forensic pathologist, discussing macroscopic and microscopic findings derived from forensic casework and from experimental laboratory studies, in order to provide a useful instrument to avoid misinterpretations and evaluation errors. Finally, some procedural notes for the documentation and the interpretation of findings are proposed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dermestidae, Tenebrionidae, Scarabaeoidea), moths (Tineidae), wasps (Halictidae, Sphaecidae) and termites (i.e. Termitidae, Mastotermitidae, Rhinotermitidae) [31], as observed upon human remains in archaeological contexts [40].…”

Section: Bone Alterationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime scene and body alterations caused by arthropods: implications in death investigation

et al. 2018

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“…Even if one just takes the biological agent into consideration, it is clear that carnivores and scavengers such as canines, big cats, reptiles (crocodilians) and even insects can promote severe damage to the bone structure with the aim to dispose of nutrients that remain in these structures (Backwell et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So, Backwell et al (2012), put bones in different stages of preservation into colonies of Trinervitermes trinervoides (Sjöstedt, 1911). The results indicated that termites were capable of destroying bone preservation at any stage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to establish and objectively link macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of marks and actions caused on fossils caused by termites, Backwell et al (2012) conducted an experiment of inserting bones ranging from fresh to fossilized stages in nests of termites. After analysis, star-shaped marks attributed to termites' activity were observed on bone surfaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First forensic records of termite activity on non-fossilized human bones in Brazil

Queiroz¹,

Soriano

Carvalho

et al. 2017

Braz. J. Biol.

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The aim of this study was to describe the first records of termite activity on non-fossilized human bones in Brazil. The cases reported in this study resulted from forensic analysis of six human skeletons found in northeastern Brazil between 2012 and 2014. Traces of tunnels and nests commonly produced by termites were found on several human bone surfaces as well as the specimens and characteristic signs of osteophagic activity. In four cases, the species were identified: Amitermes amifer Silvestri, 1901, Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky, 1855) (on two skeletons), and Microcerotermes indistinctus Mathews, 1977. In two other cases, the activity of termites on bone surfaces was evidenced by remains of nests and tunnels produced by these insects. At least in the samples of human remains available for this report, the number of termites collected was greater on bones found during autumn, the rainy season in the Northeast of Brazil. The human bones examined showed termites like insects with lots of strength at bone degradation, capable of continuing the process of decomposition of human remains even in completely skeletonized bodies. Palavras-chave: Entomologia, Isoptera, osso e ossos, Antropologia Forense. Keywords

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