Federica Mendicino

Dr. Federica Mendicino


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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1 April 2021 in Insects
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Teresa BonacciTeresa Bonacci
Teresa Bonacci
FMFederica Mendicino
Federica Mendicino
DBDomenico Bonelli
Domenico Bonelli
Francesco CarlomagnoFrancesco Carlomagno
Francesco Carlomagno
GCGiuseppe Curia
Giuseppe Curia
MPMarco Pezzi
Marco Pezzi
Burial could be used by criminals to conceal the bodies of victims, interfering with the succession of sarcosaprophagous fauna and with the evaluation of post-mortem interval. In Italy, no experimental investigation on arthropods associated with buried remains has been conducted to date. A first experimental study on arthropods associated with buried carcasses was carried out in a rural area of Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza), Southern Italy, from November 2017 to May 2018. Six pig carcasses (Susscrofa Linnaeus) were used, five of which were buried in 60-cm deep pits, leaving about 25-cm of soil above each carcass, and one was left above ground. One of the buried carcasses was periodically exhumed to evaluate the effects of disturbance on decay processes and on arthropod fauna. The other four carcasses were exhumed only once, respectively after 43, 82, 133, and 171 days. As expected, the decay rate was different among carcasses. Differences in taxa and colonization of arthropod fauna were also detected in the above ground and periodically exhumed carcasses. In carcasses exhumed only once, no arthropod colonization was detected. The results showed that a burial at about 25 cm depth could be sufficient to prevent colonization by sarcosaprophagous taxa and these data could be relevant in forensic cases involving buried corpses.