Forensic analysis of bone in Regio antebrachii of deer (Capreolus capreolus) and sheep (Ovis aries) in order to determine origin of animal species

There are frequent cases of poaching in which it is necessary to determine to which animal species the prey belonged on the basis of morphological characteristics of the bone. In this case, the Department of Forensic Medicine received material for giving an expert opinion on the left and right forearm (radius and ulna) and twelve pieces of the ribs. The ribs were completely broken, so in order to identify the bones as belonging to a particular animal species, only the radius and ulna were used. Forensic analysis was perfomed by comparing the osteological features of the delivered bones with those of museum specimens of deer and sheep bones. The forearm (ossa antebrachii) of the deer is slender and thin, and it is massive and heavier in sheep. There are two interosseus spaces (spatium interosseum antebrachii) of the forearm in the deer and only one in the sheep. The olecranon tuber (tuber olecrani) of the sheep is triangular in shape, and in deer it is divided into cranial and caudal prominences. The radial tuberosity (tuberositas radii) of the sheep is better defined. Based on morphological characteristics of the disputed bones we found that the submitted material originated from a doe.