Kinetics of algor mortis. First steps for estimating time since death in animals

Abstract

The time elapsed from death until the moment the corpse equals its temperature to ambient temperature is known as "Early Post Mortem Interval", and during this period the decrease in body temperature –algor mortis– is a useful routine measure to estimate postmortem interval (IPM) in human forensics. Early IPM for humans is 24 hours on average, but there is no information regarding animals that allow the use of algor mortis as an estimator of IPM. In this study, the core body and ambient temperature were measured continuously in 50 dead laboratory rats. Results showed that, on average, early IPM was 11 hours 14 minutes, ranging between 8 hours and 32 minutes and 17 hours with 7 minutes. An equation that estimates the IPM in rats was also obtained, minimizing residuals. This is the first experimental study aimed to obtain parameters to estimate the postmortem interval from algor mortis in animals.