Forensic analysis of bone in Regio antebrachii of deer (Capreolus capreolus) and sheep (Ovis aries) in order to determine origin of animal species

Abstract

There are frequent cases of poaching in which it is necessary to determine to which animal species the prey belonged on the basis of morphological characteristics of the bone. In this case, the Department of Forensic Medicine received material for giving an expert opinion on the left and right forearm (radius and ulna) and twelve pieces of the ribs. The ribs were completely broken, so in order to identify the bones as belonging to a particular animal species, only the radius and ulna were used. Forensic analysis was perfomed by comparing the osteological features of the delivered bones with those of museum specimens of deer and sheep bones. The forearm (ossa antebrachii) of the deer is slender and thin, and it is massive and heavier in sheep. There are two interosseus spaces (spatium interosseum antebrachii) of the forearm in the deer and only one in the sheep. The olecranon tuber (tuber olecrani) of the sheep is triangular in shape, and in deer it is divided into cranial and caudal prominences. The radial tuberosity (tuberositas radii) of the sheep is better defined. Based on morphological characteristics of the disputed bones we found that the submitted material originated from a doe.

Česti su slučajevi krivolova u kojima je potrebno da se na osnovu morfoloških karakteristika kostiju utvrdi kojoj životinjskoj vrsti pripadaju. U ovom prikazu je Katedri za sudsku veterinarsku medicinu i zakonske propise dostavljen materijal za ekspertizu koga su činili leva i desna podlakatna kost (Ossa antebrachii) i 12 delova rebara (Costae). Rebra su bila potpuno izlomljena, tako da su u cilju identifikacije pripadnosti kostiju određenoj životinjskoj vrsti korišćene samo podlakatne kosti. Obavljena je forenzička analiza metodom komparacije osteoloških karakteristika dostavljenih kostiju sa muzejskim uzorcima kostiju srne i ovce. Podlakatne kosti (Ossa antebrachii) srne su vitke i tanke, a kod ovce su jače i teže. Kod srne postoje dva međukoštana prostora (Spatium interosseum antebrachii), a kod ovce je jedan. Lakatna kvrga (Tuber olecrani) je kod ovce više trouglastog oblika, a kod srne je podeljena na kranijalnu i kaudalnu kvržicu. Tuberositas radii je kod ovce bolje izražen. Na osnovu morfoloških karakteristika spornih kostiju utvrdili smo da je dostavljeni materijal poreklom od srne.