Pigs vs people: the use of pigs as analogues for humans in forensic entomology and taphonomy research.

ABSTRACT: Most studies of decomposition in forensic entomology and taphonomy have used non-human cadavers. Following the recommendation of using domestic pig cadavers as analogues for humans in forensic entomology in the 1980s, pigs became the most frequently used model cadavers in forensic sciences. They have shaped our understanding of how large vertebrate cadavers decompose in, for example, various environments, seasons and after various ante- or postmortem cadaver modifications. They have also been used to demonstrate the feasibility of several new or well-established forensic techniques. The advent of outdoor human taphonomy facilities enabled experimental comparisons of decomposition between pig and human cadavers. Recent comparisons challenged the pig-as-analogue claim in entomology and tapho

SUBMITTER: Matuszewski S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7044136 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature