title: A test for carrion fly full siblings: a tool for detecting postmortem relocation of a corpse.
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.
authors: Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA. cpicard@iupui.edu
authors: Christine J
authors: CJ
authors: Picard
authors: Jeffrey D
authors: JD
authors: Wells
mesh_terms: D054458:Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis; D000818:Animals; D004175:Diptera / Q000235:genetics*; D004772:Entomology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D011180:Postmortem Changes