title: Morphological identification of animal hairs: Myths and misconceptions, possibilities and pitfalls.
abstract: The examination of hair collected from crime scenes is an important and highly informative discipline relevant to many forensic investigations. However, the forensic identification of animal (non-human) hairs requires different skill sets and competencies to those required for human hair comparisons. The aim of this is paper is not only to highlight the intrinsic differences between forensic human hair comparison and forensic animal hair identification, but also discuss the utility and reliability of the two in the context of possibilities and pitfalls. It also addresses and dispels some of the more popular myths and misconceptions surrounding the microscopical examination of animal hairs. Furthermore, future directions of this discipline are explored through the proposal of recommendations for minimum standards for the morphological identification of animal hairs and the significance of the newly developed guidelines by SWGWILD is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Australian Wildlife Forensic Laboratory, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, 6150, Australia. Electronic address: silvanatridico@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Tridico
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Sciences, Consolidated Forensic Laboratory, 401 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20024, USA. Electronic address: Max.Houck@DC.gov.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Houck
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia. Electronic address: paul.kirkbride@flinders.edu.au.
authors.forename: K Paul
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Kirkbride
authors.affiliation: Morphology National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, 1490 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520, USA. Electronic address: cookie_smith@fws.gov.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Morphology National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, 1490 East Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520, USA. Electronic address: bonnie_yates@fws.gov.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Yates
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044707:Forensic Sciences; D006197:Hair / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008853:Microscopy; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010781:Photography; D011361:Professional Competence; D012013:Reference Books; D013045:Species Specificity; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Animal hairs; Human hairs; Microscopy; Morphology; SWGWILD; Wildlife forensic