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The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Forensic entomologists are most often tasked with determining when arthropods colonized living or deceased vertebrates. In most cases, this estimation involves humans; however, pets, livestock, and other domesticated animals can also be illegally killed or victims of neglect. Globall...

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Autores principales: Kotzé, Zanthé, Aimar, Sylvain, Amendt, Jens, Anderson, Gail S., Bourguignon, Luc, Hall, Martin J.R., Tomberlin, Jeffery K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8064325/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33805963
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12040283
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author Kotzé, Zanthé
Aimar, Sylvain
Amendt, Jens
Anderson, Gail S.
Bourguignon, Luc
Hall, Martin J.R.
Tomberlin, Jeffery K.
author_facet Kotzé, Zanthé
Aimar, Sylvain
Amendt, Jens
Anderson, Gail S.
Bourguignon, Luc
Hall, Martin J.R.
Tomberlin, Jeffery K.
author_sort Kotzé, Zanthé
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Forensic entomologists are most often tasked with determining when arthropods colonized living or deceased vertebrates. In most cases, this estimation involves humans; however, pets, livestock, and other domesticated animals can also be illegally killed or victims of neglect. Globally, there is no standard format for the case report, and much of the content is based on the personal preferences of the analyst or standards set within a country. The article below proposes a general overview of sections to be considered when drafting a case report. ABSTRACT: Forensic practitioners analyzing entomological evidence are faced with numerous challenges when presenting their findings to law practitioners, particularly in terms of terminology used to describe insect age, what this means for colonization time of remains, and the limitations to estimates made. Due to varying legal requirements in different countries, there is no standard format for the entomological case report prepared, nor any guidelines as to the sections that are required, optional or unnecessary in a case report. The authors herein propose sections that should be considered when drafting an entomological case report. The criteria under which entomological evidence is analyzed are discussed, as well as the limitations for each criterion. The concept of a global, standardized entomological case report is impossible to achieve due to national legislative differences, but the authors here propose a basic template which can be adapted and changed according to the needs of the practitioner. Furthermore, while the discussion is fairly detailed, capturing all differences between nations could not be accomplished, and those initiating casework for the first time are encouraged to engage other practicing forensic entomologists or professional associations within their own nation or region, to ensure a complete report is generated that meets lab or national requirements, prior to generating a finalized report.
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spelling pubmed-80643252021-04-24 The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective Kotzé, Zanthé Aimar, Sylvain Amendt, Jens Anderson, Gail S. Bourguignon, Luc Hall, Martin J.R. Tomberlin, Jeffery K. Insects Review SIMPLE SUMMARY: Forensic entomologists are most often tasked with determining when arthropods colonized living or deceased vertebrates. In most cases, this estimation involves humans; however, pets, livestock, and other domesticated animals can also be illegally killed or victims of neglect. Globally, there is no standard format for the case report, and much of the content is based on the personal preferences of the analyst or standards set within a country. The article below proposes a general overview of sections to be considered when drafting a case report. ABSTRACT: Forensic practitioners analyzing entomological evidence are faced with numerous challenges when presenting their findings to law practitioners, particularly in terms of terminology used to describe insect age, what this means for colonization time of remains, and the limitations to estimates made. Due to varying legal requirements in different countries, there is no standard format for the entomological case report prepared, nor any guidelines as to the sections that are required, optional or unnecessary in a case report. The authors herein propose sections that should be considered when drafting an entomological case report. The criteria under which entomological evidence is analyzed are discussed, as well as the limitations for each criterion. The concept of a global, standardized entomological case report is impossible to achieve due to national legislative differences, but the authors here propose a basic template which can be adapted and changed according to the needs of the practitioner. Furthermore, while the discussion is fairly detailed, capturing all differences between nations could not be accomplished, and those initiating casework for the first time are encouraged to engage other practicing forensic entomologists or professional associations within their own nation or region, to ensure a complete report is generated that meets lab or national requirements, prior to generating a finalized report. MDPI 2021-03-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8064325/ /pubmed/33805963 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12040283 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ).
spellingShingle Review
Kotzé, Zanthé
Aimar, Sylvain
Amendt, Jens
Anderson, Gail S.
Bourguignon, Luc
Hall, Martin J.R.
Tomberlin, Jeffery K.
The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective
title The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective
title_full The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective
title_fullStr The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective
title_full_unstemmed The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective
title_short The Forensic Entomology Case Report—A Global Perspective
title_sort forensic entomology case report—a global perspective
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8064325/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33805963
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12040283
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