Fungi are increasingly being used in criminal investigations as a
source of data for crime scene and can be proposed as a forensic
tool. There are very few forensic investigators trained in this discipline,
which justifies the small amount of published data and
most justice professionals are not aware of the contribution of
fungi to these investigations. A wide variety of techniques derived
from biology are used by forensic investigators to study the
changes in the corpse and in the ground where the corpse
decomposition occurs in order to solve a crime or find clandestine
burials. We review the data available on the use of mycological
evidence in criminal cases and as proofs before the justice.
The first uses of fungi as evidence were restricted to cases associated
with poisonous or psychotropic species. Currently, the
objective of forensic mycology is to date the post-mortem and
post-burial intervals using information from the fungal community
found on the corpse surface or in the environment associated
with a clandestine burial. The use of fungi as a forensic tool in different
parts of the world has aroused the interest of forensic
investigators, such as the members of the different Law
Enforcements who deal with solving criminal cases.