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Page 1: Forensic Palynology

Forensic PalynologyForensic PalynologyStudy of pollen, spores, and other microscopic

plant parts

Study of pollen, spores, and other microscopic

plant parts

Page 2: Forensic Palynology

Pollen and Spores

Natures Fingerprints of Plants

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Dinoflagellate Algae Fungal spores

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Pollen Background

• Pollen is the male cell of flowering/cone bearing plants

• Microscopic• Found on nearly everything

(unknowingly )—Locard’s Principle• Comes in a vast array of shapes,

sizes, aperture openings, & surface textures

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Pollen Background• Usually pollen types of different

species within a single genus look similar

Different species of daisies

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Pollen Diversity

Hay Fever Pollen

Forget-Me-NotPersian Silk

Tree

Willow Tree

Pine Tree

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Pollen Prints• Each location produces

a unique “pollen print” that is often so specific that it can be used to identify that precise location

Kansas Prairie

Texas

LouisianaGeorgia

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Uses in forensics…

• Identify the pollen/minerals and determine where they came from and when they occur

• Determine if a body was in a particular place at a certain time

• Season in which crime was committed

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Pollen Tells a Story

• For instance, a dead body may be found in the woods, and the clothes may contain pollen that are found in a place other than where the body was found. That indicates that the body was moved.

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How to Analyze Pollen

• Using a microscope• Look for characteristics such as

shape, size, surface texture, & aperture

• Compare specimens (from crime scene to suspect, from victim to suspect etc.)

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Provides a piece to the Puzzle

• Will probably not be the sole piece of evidence used to convict a person of a crime

• Simply provides a “link”


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