Hair Analysis of Mammals of Brazilian Wildlife for Forensic Purposes

Abstract

Wildlife trafficking is classified as the fourth largest illegal commerce in the world. Taxonomic identification of wildlife is an ordinary process for forensics experts. The aim of this study was to analyze animal’s hair from Brazilian’s wildlife through microscopic and compare morphology of bristle among species analyzed. Hair samples of nine species were analyzed. Glass slides were analyzed through optical microscopy and following measurements were obtained: total length, medulla diameter, overall diameter and overall ratio diameter of the medulla’s diameter. The images obtained at identification of animals through the morphology of hair and the statistics analysis corroborates in favor for the validation of the technique.