 Hello, everyone. So now we're going to continue in our three-part series on the postmortem interval. So right now we're going to talk about the third aspect of postmortem interval estimation. So so far we've talked about the stages of decomposition, insect behavior, and life cycles. And now we're moving on to the environmental factors that can influence the postmortem interval. The first environmental factor that's going to influence our postmortem interval estimation, or PMI estimation, is temperature. And temperature is going to affect the overall decomposition rate. So for example, if you have a body that's out in the woods of Tennessee, it can become completely skeletonized within about a year. So that's a fairly warm, moist climate. But if that same body had been exposed out in, say, the Arizona desert, we could see skeletonization occurring in as little as three months. But if we were in Canada, we would find that complete skeletonization could take up to a full eight years. So you can see then how temperature can contribute to the overall decomposition process. Also, insects are going to vary based on temperature. So just like we learned in the second part of our postmortem interval series, insects need a certain amount of temperature or a certain degree in order to reach their next lifecycle, their next phase in the lifecycle. So if it's really cold, insects are going to be a little bit more sluggish than if it's quite warm. Then rain or water can also help to contribute to the postmortem interval estimation. So if a body is in a moist environment, so say a marsh or a swamp, we're going to see different insects that are coming to colonize the body than if it were out in completely dry area, like in the desert. Also, just like sometimes we don't want to go outside when it's rainy, insects don't really want to be doing much when it's rainy. So insects are not going to be quite as active in the rain. Also, bodies that are in wet environments are going to retain their moisture a little bit longer. So that's also going to influence the decomposition process. Then exposure. And what this means is bodies that are left out on the surface, they're not buried or covered up in any kind of way. They're just out there so that everything in the wild has access to it. And this is going to affect what type of insects are going to be colonizing and also the diversity of the insects colonizing. So if you have a body that's in the shade or in the water or in some other capacity, or maybe if that body is covered up, maybe you have different insects that aren't going to be as attracted to it. So they're not going to pick up on all those scents that they would have if that body was out in the open so that they could have immediate access to it. Also, buried bodies. So if you bury an individual in a coffin or in a casket, those bodies are buried in such a way so that they decompose a little bit slower than if they were out on the surface in the middle of the woods or out exposed. Then also related to exposure is scavenging. So animals are going to be attracted to the scent of the decaying body. And just like we see in this image, we're going to have animals, mostly wild dogs and things like that, that are going to be coming to try and retrieve what they can of the remains. So they're hungry, too, just like the insects are. And they're often going to try and feed on the central region of the body. And as you can see in this image, you can actually see the bite marks or the teeth marks that have been left behind from scavenging animals. Then finally, location. Location is part of the macro environment or the large scale environment that can contribute to estimating the postmortem interval and some changes in decomposition. So bodies in dry environments will decompose sometimes before insects actually have a chance to properly colonize. So because insects need a nice, moist environment in order to raise their eggs up to be large adults, as a result, in dry environments, they're not going to be as successful at growth. And during these, if you have a body in a dry environment, that's also where you're more likely to see mummification. And then finally, in wet places, like in marshes, like you see here, you're going to see a different set of insects. You're going to see a different set of scavengers and different things that might be attracted to that body. So in a swamp like this, say if this is in the middle of Florida, you might see alligators that might be chomping on the body. Or you might see serpents or other things that are attracted to this body. So you can see then how location, temperature, rain, and other factors can really influence the decomposition process.