Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
Published on: March 13, 2011
Morphological identification of animal hairs: Myths and misconceptions, possibilities and pitfalls
S R Tridico1, M M Houck2, K Paul Kirkbride3
1Australian Wildlife Forensic Laboratory, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, 6150, Australia.
Abstract:
The examination of hair collected from crime scenes is an important and highly informative discipline relevant to many forensic investigations. However, the forensic identification of animal (non-human) hairs requires different skill sets and competencies to those required for human hair comparisons. The aim of this is paper is not only to highlight the intrinsic differences between forensic human hair comparison and forensic animal hair identification, but also discuss the utility and reliability of the two in the context of possibilities and pitfalls. It also addresses and dispels some of the more popular myths and misconceptions surrounding the microscopical examination of animal hairs. Furthermore, future directions of this discipline are explored through the proposal of recommendations for minimum standards for the morphological identification of animal hairs and the significance of the newly developed guidelines by SWGWILD is discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Methods of Classification and Identification
Accessory Structures of the Skin: Hair and Hair Follicles
Hair is a keratinous filament growing out of the epidermis. It is primarily made of dead, keratinized cells. Hair strands originate at the epidermal penetration called the hair follicle. The hair shaft is the part...
Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell
Accessory Structures of the Skin: Hair Growth and Types
Taxonomy
Hierarchy of Taxonomy
The hierarchy that Carolus Linnaeus first...

