Discriminant function analysis of craniometric data for distinguishing Japanese and Filipino crania
- 18 April 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences
- Vol. 55 (5), 621-644
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2022.2057589
Abstract
Given their similar morphology and gene-flow histories, determining whether an unidentified cranium found in the Philippines is Japanese or Filipino presents a challenge. Two different analyses are undertaken. First, discriminant function (DF) analyses are applied to 295 crania using 22 measurements for distinguishing between: 1) males and females, 2) Japanese and Filipino males, and 3) Japanese and Filipino females, and 4) among four groups (Japanese males, Filipino males, Japanese females, and Filipino females). Second, a DF equation for distinguishing Japanese males and Filipino males using 173 crania and 29 measurements is introduced. In addition to being able to distinguish between Japanese and Filipino crania, this study found that seldom used cranial measurements such as simonic chord (least nasal breadth -WNB), inferior malar length (IML), and maximum malar length (XML) are influential for distinguishing between these two Asian groups. The predicted classification accuracy of DF equations from both analyses ranged from 82.0% to 93.6%. Sixty test crania for the first study and 40 for the second study maintains classification success rates between 82.0% and 93.3%. The DF equations reported in this study can be a useful initial screening tool for identifying Japanese war dead in the Philippines.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Analysis of Radiocarbon, Stable Isotopes and DNA in Teeth to Facilitate Identification of Unknown DecedentsPLOS ONE, 2013
- The Y-chromosome landscape of the Philippines: extensive heterogeneity and varying genetic affinities of Negrito and non-Negrito groupsEuropean Journal of Human Genetics, 2010
- Sexual dimorphism in Southeast Asian crania: A geometric morphometric approachHOMO, 2009
- Ancient DNA, Strontium isotopes, and osteological analyses shed light on social and kinship organization of the Later Stone AgeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Jomon skeletons from the Funadomari site, Hokkaido, and its implication for the origins of Native AmericanAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2008
- New binary polymorphisms reshape and increase resolution of the human Y chromosomal haplogroup treeGenome Research, 2008
- A multivariate craniometric study of the prehistoric and modern inhabitants of Southeast Asia, East Asia and surrounding regions: a human kaleidoscope?Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2006
- Interpretation of craniofacial variation and diversification of East and Southeast AsiansPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2006
- The population history of Southeast Asia viewed from morphometric analyses of human skeletal and dental remainsPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2006
- Genetic origins of the Ainu inferred from combined DNA analyses of maternal and paternal lineagesJournal of Human Genetics, 2004