The present study examined the decomposition of neonate pig samples (n = 42) in a freshwater pond located in Holliston, Massachusetts. They were individually placed either in a mesh bag (control group), a trash bag, or a backpack to determine whether trash bags or backpacks affected the rate of decomposition in a freshwater pond. Six pigs were present at each recovery period: two as control specimens, two placed in trash bags, and two placed in backpacks. The neonate pigs were assessed at seven different recovery periods: one week, two weeks, four weeks, twelve weeks, twenty-four weeks, thirty-five weeks, and forty-eight weeks. Throughout the study, decomposition was assessed using the scoring methods of Heaton et al. (2010) and Keough et al. (2017) along with photographs and written descriptions. It was hypothesized that the enclosed remains would decompose at a slower rate than the exposed remains; however, this was not the case. Due to scavenging, the trash bag specimens were removed from statistical analysis. Statistical analyses determined that there was not a statistically significant difference in the Total Body Scores (p = 0.511), the Total Aquatic Decomposition Scores (p = 0.635), and percent mass loss (p = 0.265) between the control groups and the backpack groups.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/48272 |
| Date | 28 February 2024 |
| Creators | Jobe, Arden |
| Contributors | Pokines, James T. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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