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Phase II spatial patterning of vulture scavenged human remains
Abstract
This project expands on a pilot study by Spradley, Hamilton, and Giordano (2012) that investigated the patterns and effect of vulture scavenging of human remains, with special focus on the effect of microenvironments. Five donated bodies from the Willed Body Donation Program at Texas State University were placed in various locations at the university's Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF). The bodies were monitored by motion capture cameras and after each vulture scavenging event the dispersal and location of the bodies' skeletal elements were mapped with a high accuracy GPS unit. The degree and direction of dispersal by vultures were then analyzed with GIS. Phase II revealed that vultures will begin scavenging at variable times, will continue to return to and move remains after a body has been skeletonized, and tend to move remains from higher elevations to lower elevations. The data also suggested that vultures may scavenge in larger groups (n > 20) in cooler temperatures, but in warm to hot temperatures they may scavenge more frequently in smaller groups (n ≈ 5). Future directions for vulture scavenging profiles are briefly discussed.
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In 3.8% (3/79) of the reviewed publications, visit frequency increased after scavenging or dispersal occurred.
“In 3.8% (3/79) of the publications, the visit frequency increased after scavenging or dispersal occurred [68,89,93].”
From Forensic experiments on animal scavenging: A systematic literature review on what we have and what we need (2023) · cites this paper as [68]
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Research works printed but not linked: 17
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Cited by
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Indra, L., Lösch, S., Errickson, D., & Finaughty, D. (2023) · Forensic Science International · doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111862 · Cited by 18
Metadata
- Authors
- Miranker, M., Giordano, A., & Spradley, K.
- Affiliations
- Texas State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Miranker, Molly
- Venue
- Forensic Science International
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-09
- Volume
- 314
- Pages
- 110392
- ISSN
- 0379-0738 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3038126678
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 1.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Forensic Science International (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Texas State University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes
- Keywords
- human remains, microenvironment effects, altitude, motion capture, forensic taphonomy, body donation
- MeSH terms
- Body Remains, Animals, Feeding Behavior, Humans, Temperature, Geographic Information Systems, Falconiformes, Spatial Analysis
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