J Forensic Sci, 2015

doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12882
Available online at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

CASE REPORT
ANTHROPOLOGY

Malthus Fonseca Galv~

ao,1,2 Ph.D., M.D.; Jose Roberto Pujol-Luz,3 Ph.D.; Cristiane Vieira de Assis
assio Thyone Almeida de Rosa,5 B.Sc.; Luiz Ricardo L. Simone,6 Ph.D., M.D.;
Pujol-Luz,4 Ph.D.; C
7
S^onia Nair B
ao, Ph.D.; Karine Brenda Barros-Cordeiro,7 M.Sc.; Larissa Pessoa,8 M.Sc.; and
Giovanna Bissacot,1 D.M.D.

Shells and Bones: A Forensic Medicine Study

of the Association of Terrestrial Snail Allopeas
micra with Buried Human Remains in Brazil*

ABSTRACT: Little is known regarding the scavenger fauna associated with buried human corpses, particularly in clandestine burials. We

report the presence of 20 shells of the terrestrial snail Allopeas micra, within hollow bones of human remains buried for 5 years, during the
process of collecting DNA material. The fact that a large number of shells of A. micra had been found in the corpse and in the crime scene
supports the assumption that there was no attempt to remove the corpse from the area where the crime occurred. Despite this, our observations
cannot be used to estimate the postmortem interval because there is no precise knowledge about the development of this species. This is the
first record of a terrestrial snail associated with a human corpse and its role in this forensic medicine case.

KEYWORDS: forensic science, clandestine graves, exhumation, forensic medicine, forensic anthropology, mollusk
Carcasses are discrete and high-quality ephemeral resources,
and they work as vacant islands that rapidly concentrate regional
biodiversity. Human and other animal remains provide a temporary habitat for hiding, feeding, and reproduction of several
invertebrates, and their decomposition is an extremely important
ecological process (13). Typically insect scavengers species

1
Laborat

orio de Antropologia Forense do Instituto de Medicina Legal,
Departamento de Pol
cia T
ecnica da Pol
cia Civil do Distrito Federal,
Universidade de Bras
lia, 70610-200 Bras
lia, DF, Brazil.
2
Laborat

orio de Medicina Legal e Antropologia Forense, Departamento de
Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Bras
lia, 70610-200
Bras
lia, DF, Brazil.
3
Laborat

orio de Entomologia Forense, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto
de Ci^encias Biol

ogicas, Universidade de Bras
lia, 70.910-900 Bras
lia, DF,
Brazil.
4
Laborat

orio de Zoologia, Universidade Cat
olica de Bras
lia, 72030-170
Taguatinga, DF, Brazil.
5
Departamento de Pol
cia T
ecnica, Instituto de Criminal
stica, Pol
cia Civil
do Distrito Federal, SAISO Complexo da Pol
cia Civil, 70610-200 Bras
lia,
DF, Brazil.
6
Laborat

orio de Malacologia, Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de S~ao
Paulo, 04299-970 S~ao Paulo, Brazil.
7
Laborat

orio de Microscopia Eletr^onica, Departamento de Biologia
Celular, Instituto de Ci^encias Biol
ogicas, Universidade de Bras
lia, 70910900 Bras
lia, DF, Brazil.
8
Departamento de Estomatologia, Sa
ude Coletiva e Odontologia Legal,
Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeir~ao Preto, Universidade de S~ao Paulo,
14040-904 Ribeir~ao Preto, SP, Brazil.
*Financial support provided by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento
Cient
fico e Tecnol

ogico (CNPq) and Fundac~ao de Apoio a Pesquisa do
Distrito Federal (FAPDF).
Received 11 June 2014; and in revised form 9 Sept. 2014; accepted 6 Oct.
2014.

2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences

such as Diptera and Coleoptera are the focus of ecological succession studies (4,5), as they are the mainly responsible for the
consumption of remains, and provide more accurate information
about postmortem interval (PMI) (6,7). There is little information
regarding other animals (810) that may not be directly associated with the cadaveric material or the substrate alteration caused
by it, but are somehow attracted by as yet undescribed
resources.
A group that has barely been studied in forensic sciences is
the Phylum Mollusca (11), which includes clams, oysters, snails,
cephalopods; the studies that do exist are focused on marine
habitats. There is no record in the forensic literature regarding
the association of terrestrial mollusks with human remains. However, different kinds of invertebrates (1214) are known to cause
a number of different types of alteration to the corpse and the
crime scene (e. g., displacement of clothes, postmortem wounds
to skin and bones, and the dismemberment and scattering of
bones). In this study, we make the first report of the occurrence
of a gastropod inside the bones of a human buried for five years
and its role in this forensic medicine case.
Case Description
On August 14, 2013, the body of an adult male (Fig. 1a) was
found buried about 80 cm deep in an urban zone of the city of
Bras
lia, Brazil (15520 33S, 47490 26W). The completely
skeletonized cadaver was discovered during the excavations carried out by a water company for the installation of water-supply
pipes. Vestiges of the clothes and shoes, and a blanket were also
found. The body was found at a former plant nursery and the
owner had been missing for 5 years.
1

JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES

FIG. 1(a) Skeleton at the crime scene. (b) Soil from the grave with arrows indicating the two types identified. (c) Humerus with the arrow indicating a
nutrient foramina. (d) Allopeas micra (dashed circle) inside the bone marrow. (e) Femur (above) and Humerus (below) sawed.

The soil was very compact, formed from metapelites (silt and
clay). Around the bones, the soil was characterized by black
material, rich in organic matter (similar to humus), quite distinct
from adjacent horizons (Fig. 1b). The black soil did not occupy
the burial site completely and had its distribution restricted to
the space occupied by the decaying body.
The remains were removed to the Legal Medical Institute,
where the routine procedures for examinations and DNA tests
were performed, which resulted in the positive identification of
the missing owner. During the process of collecting material for

identification of the corpse, a cut of about 2 9 2 cm in the

femur was performed for DNA analysis. The examination of the
interior cavity of the femur revealed the presence of a small gastropod shell (~2 mm) in the dry bone marrow (Fig. 1d). None of
the examined bones showed fractures or injuries antemortem or
postmortem.
To check whether there were more snails shells inside the
bones, the other long bones (femora and humeri) were sawn and
examined. No other bones of the skeleton were examined. A
total of 20 shells were found dispersed inside the femora and

~ ET AL.
GALVAO

SHELLS AND BONES

FIG. 2(a) Allopeas micra dorsal view. (b) Same apertural view (scale = white bar).

humeri. The shells were photographed during the dissection of

the bones (Fig. 1c, d, e) and were later analyzed by scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) (Fig. 2a, b). The shells were identified as belonging to Allopeas micra (dOrbigny, 1835), a gastropod belonging to the family Subulinidae (Stylommatophora)
according to Simone (15).
Results and Discussion
This is the first record of an association between a terrestrial
snail and a buried human corpse. In 1965, Payne (16) found
snails below the carcass of a pig (Sus scrofa). Sorg et al. (11)
reported that marine snails such as Buccinium undatum, Busycon
spp, Colus stimpsoni, Crepidula fornicata, Littorina littorea, and
Neptunea lyrata decemcostata are usually observed feeding on
dead fish and other types of decaying organic matter, on algae,
and may be attracted to human remains on the surface of the
ocean. Almost nothing is known about the diversity of the fauna
associated with buried cadavers (17,18), as the soil acts as a
physical barrier to the access of scavenging animals, which usually colonize a corpse on the ground surface.
Allopeas micra is a widely distributed microsnail, considered
to be Pan-American (15) that is normally associated with anthropic environments such as gardens and parks. The species has an
elongated shell that reaches 6-7 mm. As with most subulinids,
A. micra is microdetritivorous and forager, feeding on the
organic matter of the soil and dead leaves. Because of its minute
size, the species mostly goes unnoticed in routine environmental
analyses and has been little studied for such a widespread species.
Allopeas micra has some ability of digging through the soil,
especially for estivation, and this capacity is related to the degree
of compression and hardness of the ground with softer soil
allowing greater burrowing capacity. As the studied carcass was
80 cm deep, and as the surrounding soil was considerably softer
than rest of the ground of that region (Fig. 1b), the animals
could utilize this opportunity to dig deeper and obtain additional
food sources. Supposedly, A. micra has no interest in flesh, and
the occupation of such a habitat may be interpreted occurring in
the phase postconsumption of soft tissues. During this period,
the surface of the bones would be exposed and free of decaying

remains, in turn exposing the nutrient foramina (Fig. 1c). The

foramina can be defined as openings into the bone shaft which
gives passage to the blood vessels of the medullary cavity (19).
These opening would be compatible with the small size of the
snails (Fig. 2a, b).
As all shells inside the bones possessed the same amount of
whorls, and growth rate can be estimated by the number of
whorls, we believe that all of the snails belong to a single generation that entered the bones, most likely through their nutrient
foramina while searching for food and/or shelter and could not
live longer due to their further growth. The fact that the shells
were found dead, that is, empty, has no relevance in this case,
as they certainly actively crawled to the bones through the soil.
Estivation is very common in land snails, and a proportion of
individuals die during this phase, with only the shell left as
remains.
Forensic Remarks
The presence of 20 individuals in the skeleton suggests that
the population of A. micra in the region is substantial and may
be an important asset in future forensic studies. The authors
(JRPL, CTAR, and CVAPL) returned to the site of the discovery
of the skeleton and noted the presence of a large number of
shells of A. micra scattered on the ground, suggesting that this is
a common species in the region. As a rule, our observations cannot be used to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI) because
there is no precise knowledge on the development biology of
this species of snail. However, the presence of the large number
of shells, both inside the skeleton and dispersed at the crime
scene, could support the assumption that there was no attempt to
remove the corpse from the area where the crime occurred.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank our colleagues, Dr. H
elio Ricardo da Silva
(UFRRJ), Dr. Thomas Christopher Rhys Williams (UnB) and
Dr. John Du Vall Hay (UnB), Jo~ao Victor Luz (UCB), Dr.
Ricardo Henrique Alves da Silva (USP), Dr. Marco Aur
elio
Guimar~aes (USP), and Dr. Cec
lia Kosmann (USP), for reviewing different parts of the manuscript.

JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES

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Additional information and reprint requests:
Jos
e R. Pujol-Luz, Ph.D.
Departamento de Zoologia
Universidade de Bras
lia
Bras
lia, DF70910-900
Brazil
E-mail: jrpujol@unb.br