A Test for Carrion Fly Full Siblings: A Tool for Detecting Postmortem Relocation of a Corpse Article

Picard, CJ, Wells, JD. (2012). A Test for Carrion Fly Full Siblings: A Tool for Detecting Postmortem Relocation of a Corpse . JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, 57(2), 535-538. 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01975.x

cited authors

  • Picard, CJ; Wells, JD

authors

abstract

  • We propose a genetic test for full sibship for a pair of carrion flies that could reveal the postmortem relocation of a corpse. A carrion fly larva is sometimes left behind when a corpse is moved. The discovery of full sibling larvae of approximately the same developmental stage at two locations would strongly suggest that a corpse was moved between those two sites. Distributions of pairwise comparisons of relatedness (R) coefficients were generated using amplified fragment length polymorphism profiles for nine samples of laboratory-generated full siblings as well as for a reference sample of nonfull sibling Phormia regina (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The mean relative R coefficient, a pairwise measure of the proportion of shared alleles, was 0.479 (±0.289 SD) for full siblings, close to the theoretical expectation of 0.5. A likelihood ratio (LR) test was based on observed distributions of R. R >0.55 corresponded to an LR >1000 favoring full sibship for that pair of individuals. © 2011 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

publication date

  • March 1, 2012

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 535

end page

  • 538

volume

  • 57

issue

  • 2