Sex Estimation of Infants Between Birth and One Year Through Discriminant Analysis of the Humerus and Femur
- 25 September 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Forensic Sciences
- Vol. 58 (1), 13-20
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02286.x
Abstract
Estimation of sex when investigating subadult skeletal remains is largely problematic because of unreliable and inaccurate results. Despite the limitations encountered with skeletal material, the medical literature clearly demonstrates differences between males and females in utero that persist through life. The current study investigates sexual dimorphism in the long bones of the humerus and femur for individuals between birth and 1 year of age. A radiographic sample amassed from Erie County Medical Examiner's office includes 85 femoral and 45 humeral images for analysis in relation to sex. Measurements for lengths and breadths were collected through tpsDig software. Discriminant analysis proved to be the most successful method, with error rates of 3% when utilizing maximum breadth at midshaft of the femur and 11% with humerus maximum distal breadth. This research demonstrates that it is possible to correctly classify sex of unknown subadult remains when comparing them to a known sample.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- New Intrauterine Growth Curves Based on United States DataPEDIATRICS, 2010
- Greater sciatic notch as a sex indicator in juvenilesAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2008
- Sexual Dimorphism in the Subadult Mandible: Quantification Using Geometric Morphometrics*Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2006
- The biology of puberty: new developments in sex differencesPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2003
- A blind test of mandibular morphology for sexing mandibles in the first few years of lifeAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2002
- Statistical study of sexual dimorphism in the human fetal sciatic notchAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1995
- Sex determination of infant and juvenile skeletons: I. Morphognostic featuresAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1993
- A Survey of Strategies for Modeling Cross-Classifications Having Ordinal VariablesJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1983
- The Jackknife--A ReviewBiometrika, 1974
- Sex differences in the foetal pelvisAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1957