Journal of Forensic Research

Department of Biology Division, National Forensic Science Laboratory, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal

Publications

• Research Article   
  Cranio-morphometric Study of Asiatic Big Cats for Forensic Identification
  Author(s): Dinesh Kumar Jha*, Raju Panday, Nirajan Thapa Kshetry, Anshu Upadhayay and Nanda Kumar Aryal
  
  Objective: Asiatic big cat skulls often appear in illegal trade. These species are protected under national and international law so an effective prosecution requires reliable species level identification. Morphometric based identification has reasonable advantages over DNA-based techniques. Methods: In the current study, a range of morphological features and 29 metric variables from 25 skulls of tiger, Asiatic lion, common leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard were investigated. Results: Among studied parameters, overall skull profile, skull index, nasal profile, sagittal crest and forehead features, ratio of maxilla and nasal suture were found to be the key factor for species differentiation. Based on findings, a simple flowchart was developed. Depending on the nature of confiscated material, .. Read More»
  

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