Post-Mortem Interval
Definition
Elapsed time between death and a specified examination or reference point. State that endpoint explicitly when comparing methods. Insect age, time since discovery and time since water entry are separate quantities.
- Context
- Postmortem timing
For example, death-to-recovery time differs from death-to-autopsy time when transport and storage separate those reference events.
No method should silently substitute one event for another.
Related terms
- Entomotoxicology
- Analysis of substances in insect matrices and possible developmental effects, without automatic reconstruction of human blood concentrations. Validated tests can detect particular...
- Post-Mortem Interval (PMI)
- Elapsed time between death and a specified later reference event. State that endpoint explicitly when comparing methods. Insect age, time since discovery...
- Accumulated Degree Hours (ADH)
- Accumulated temperature-time above a defined developmental threshold, expressed in degree-hours under a specified model. In a fictional linear model with a base...
- Accumulated Degree Hours/days (ADH/ADD)
- Temperature-time accumulation above a defined model threshold, with degree-hours and degree-days requiring correct conversion. In a fictional linear model with a base...
- Adipocere
- A product of changes in fatty tissue, with formation and persistence dependent on conditions. Changes in fatty tissue can produce waxy material...
- Ante-Mortem Myiasis
- Infestation of a living person, which can make insect development begin before death. Their developmental age may then exceed the period elapsed...
- Autolysis
- Breakdown of cells and tissues involving their own enzymes. Different tissues and environmental conditions can produce different appearances. Autolysis and microbial decomposition...
- Carrion Succession
- Changes in a carrion-associated community over time, influenced by environment and sampling. Succession describes changes in organisms associated with a resource. Temperature,...
- Colonisation Wave
- A descriptive ecological pattern, not a fixed universal series of predictable arrival intervals. Succession describes changes in organisms associated with a resource....
- Developmental Endpoint
- The defined stage or measurement to which a modelled interval refers. An endpoint specifies what event or condition the estimate reaches, such...
- Forensic Entomology
- Forensic entomology uses insects and other arthropod evidence to address legal investigative questions. Its applications include death investigation, living-host infestation, urban disputes...
- Microclimate
- Local conditions experienced by the insects, which may differ from station records and change over time. Conditions at the insect’s location can...
Explained in these topics
- Forensic Entomology Casework and Scene InterpretationElapsed time between death and a stated later reference event.
- Introduction and Scope of Forensic Entomology
- Soft Tissue Preservation and DecompositionElapsed time since death, distinct from the time since colonisation or immersion.