Taphonomic impact of vertebrate scavengers on degradation and dispersal of remains, southeastern British Columbia

IF 1.5 4区 医学 Q2 MEDICINE, LEGAL Journal of forensic sciences Pub Date : 2024-09-03 DOI:10.1111/1556-4029.15620
Shari L. Forbes PhD, Meaghan Huculak MA, Christopher J. Watson PhD
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Abstract

Vertebrate scavengers represent important taphonomic agents that can act on a body, particularly when in an outdoor environment. Understanding the effects of these agents will direct how and where to search for human remains and influence the likelihood of discovery in a particular region. The current study aimed to identify the taphonomic impact of scavenger guilds in the peri-urban and rural regions of southeastern British Columbia. Vertebrate scavenger activity on pig carcasses was recorded remotely using trail cameras and analyzed to determine temporal scavenging profiles. Both the peri-urban and rural environments produced comparable scavenger guilds, namely: turkey vultures, American crows/northern ravens (classified as “corvids”), American black bears, and coyotes. Although the two locations had different study lengths due to variable degrees of scavenging, for the period that was common to both locations (summer to early fall), the black bear was the most frequent scavenger followed by coyote. However, the dispersal of remains by the mammalian scavengers was distinctly different between sites. Only 12%–33% of skeletal elements were recovered at the rural sites compared to 80%–90% recovered at the peri-urban sites, even though the latter sites had a longer study timeframe. The extended timeframe of the peri-urban sites confirmed that certain scavengers (e.g., turkey vultures and black bears) are only seasonally active in this region. These findings demonstrate the variability of scavenger behavior and the need to assign caution and local ecological knowledge when predicting scavenger trends. Such taphonomic information is relevant for human remains searches in regions with comparable scavenger guilds.

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不列颠哥伦比亚省东南部脊椎动物食腐动物对遗骸退化和扩散的影响。
脊椎动物食腐动物是重要的遗物学媒介,可对尸体产生作用,尤其是在户外环境中。了解这些媒介的影响将指导如何以及在何处搜寻人类遗骸,并影响在特定区域发现遗骸的可能性。目前的研究旨在确定不列颠哥伦比亚省东南部城市周边地区和农村地区食腐动物群的影响。研究人员使用跟踪摄像机远程记录了食腐动物在猪尸体上的活动,并对其进行分析,以确定食腐动物的时间轮廓。城市周边环境和农村环境中都有类似的食腐动物群落,即火鸡秃鹫、美洲乌鸦/北方乌鸦(归类为 "食腐动物")、美洲黑熊和郊狼。尽管两个地点由于食腐程度不同而导致研究时间长短不同,但在两个地点的共同时期(夏季到初秋),黑熊是最常见的食腐动物,其次是郊狼。然而,不同地点的哺乳动物食腐动物的遗骸散落情况却截然不同。在农村遗址中只找到了 12%-33% 的骨骼成分,而在近郊遗址中则找到了 80%-90% 的骨骼成分,尽管近郊遗址的研究时间更长。城郊遗址的时间范围延长证实了某些食腐动物(如火鸡秃鹫和黑熊)在这一地区只是季节性活动。这些发现表明了食腐动物行为的多变性,在预测食腐动物的趋势时需要谨慎行事并了解当地的生态知识。这些岩石学信息对于在具有类似食腐动物群落的地区搜寻人类遗骸具有重要意义。
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来源期刊
Journal of forensic sciences
Journal of forensic sciences 医学-医学:法
CiteScore
4.00
自引率
12.50%
发文量
215
审稿时长
2 months
期刊介绍: The Journal of Forensic Sciences (JFS) is the official publication of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). It is devoted to the publication of original investigations, observations, scholarly inquiries and reviews in various branches of the forensic sciences. These include anthropology, criminalistics, digital and multimedia sciences, engineering and applied sciences, pathology/biology, psychiatry and behavioral science, jurisprudence, odontology, questioned documents, and toxicology. Similar submissions dealing with forensic aspects of other sciences and the social sciences are also accepted, as are submissions dealing with scientifically sound emerging science disciplines. The content and/or views expressed in the JFS are not necessarily those of the AAFS, the JFS Editorial Board, the organizations with which authors are affiliated, or the publisher of JFS. All manuscript submissions are double-blind peer-reviewed.
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