Comparative characteristics of metacarpal bones (Ossa metacarpi) and finger articles (Ossa digitorum pedis seu phalanges digitorum) of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and sheep (Ovis aries) in order to determine animal species

Abstract

The method of determining which animal species the bones, on the basis of mor­phological characteristics, belong to, is one of the most commonly used in forensic cases (poaching, fraud, theft, counterfeiting of food of animal origin).For identification of metacarpal bones (Ossa metacarpi) as well as finger articles (Ossa digitorum pedis seu phalanges digitorum) there were used distal parts of front limb bones, taken from 6 roe deers and 7 sheep. Afer the separation from the soft tissues, the bones were boiled in an autoclave, and for bleaching and degreasing they were kept in 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The bones were air dried, and then photographed. In roe deer, there are four developed metacarpal bones: the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth. The third and the fourth mrtacarpal bones form one bone, named the main metacarpal bone. The second and the fifth metacarpal bones are connected by con­nective tissue to distal parts of the third and the fourth metacarpal bones. In sheep, there are three developed metacarpal bones: the third, the fourth and the fifth. The thord and the fourth metacarpal bones are, as in roe deer, grown together along the entire length, forming in that way one single bone - the main metacarpal bone. On the distal part of front limb in roe deer there are four fingers, and in sheep two. In roe deer the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth finger are developed, and in sheep, the third and the fourth. Each finger of front limbs, both in roe deer and in sheep, consists of three articles: Phalanx proximalis, Phalanx media i Phalanx distalis. In the case of certain bone missing, a roe deer can be distinguished from a sheep on the basis of the tird article of the third and fourth finger, which is of characteristic appearance. Plantar edge in roe deer is peaked, and in sheep it is blunt. The method of determining which animal species the bones, on the basis of mor­phological characteristics of roe deer and sheep, belong to, is one of the most reliable and most commonly used in forensic cases.

Keywords

• comparative forensic osteology
• metacarpal bones
• finger joints
• roe deer
• sheep