Sex identification from cranial capacity of adult human skulls.

Cranial capacity constitutes one of the most important characters for determining the racial differences. However, few studies exist that have evaluated the sexual dimorphism of cranial capacity and its significance in determining the sex of an individual. A craniometric study was conducted to differentiate sex from intracranial volumes of dry human skulls. The study was done on 160 dry human skulls (100 males and 60 females) in the department of forensic medicine, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal (M.P.), during the year 2005 – 2006. Skulls chosen for the present study were of adult age only. Dry, hard mustard seed of uniform size were used to fill the cranial cavity to determine the capacity. Mean cranial capacity of male skulls was found to be 1302.95 + 108.8 c.c. (range 1070 – 1560 c.c.), while in female skulls the mean cranial capacity was found 1179.92 + 97.08 c.c. (range 1000 – 1420 c.c.). A highly significant difference (p value <0.01) was observed between the intracranial volume of male and female skulls were compared. This data is expected to be of Clinical, Forensic, Anthropological and Genetic Importance

Determination of sex by sciatic notch/acetabular ratio (Kelley’s Index) in Indian Bengali skeletal remains.

Kelley used the sciatic notch is to acetabular ratio as the osteometric method to differentiate between male and female hipbones. The present study was designed to examine the applicability of this index (sciatic notch /acetabular height ratio) and the rule of thumb (of Kelley) in Indian Bengali skeletal remains. A preliminary attempt was made to derive a sectioning point and propose a new ―rule of thumb‖ approach for determining sex from skeletal remains. The study showed that bones with sciatic notch /acetabular height index equal or greater than .93 (or 93 when expressed as a percentage) was definitely female and those with values less than .93 were male. The results of applying this new rule on the present series of Indian Bengali hipbones indicate that 93.3 % of the total sample could be correctly classified in to the proper sex. Of those 92.8% of the males and 93.75% of the females were correctly classified by the new rule. The present new rule of thumb approach is a valid, effective, reliable, population specific and easy method to differentiate between male and female pelvis in Indian Bengali skeletal remains.

Sex determination in mandibles in the first year of life by a quantitative approach / Determinación del sexo en mandíbulas en el primer año de vida mediante una aproximación cuantitativa

Numerous studies have shown that skeletal characteristics vary among different populations. Several authors suggest that it is possible to determine sex through the anatomical evaluation of children mandible, however there are few morphometrical studies conducted with such specimens. The purpose of this study was to analyze several mandibular dimensions and identify the ones that could be useful to perform sex differentiation in a sample of Brazilian young children. For this study we used 32 children dry mandibles of known sex, age ranging from 0 to 1 year old. The mandibles pertain to the collection of the Skull Museum of the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (UNIFESP). The parameters included bicondilar width, bigonial width, minimum width and height of the mandibular ramus, gonion-gnation length, height of the mandibular symphysis and transverse and anteroposterior condylar dimensions. The SPSS program was used to carry on the discriminant function analysis and the T test (p <0.05). There were no statistically significant differences that could allow identification of a specific parameter for sex determination. However, most of the dimensions were higher in male than in female, except for the minimum width of the mandibular ramus (0.2-0.16 mm) and transverse diameter of the right condyle (0.16mm). The values obtained for the anteroposterior diameter of the mandibular head were the most different between genders, although no statistically significance was found. Discriminant function analysis indicated that, despite differences, none of the evaluated parameters allow for sex classification with enough reliability. In conclusion, there is little sexual dimorphism in children's mandibles during the first year of life and anatomical analysis of this structure is not recommended as reliable quantitative approach for sex differentiation with forensic purposes.

Numerosos estudios han demostrado que las características esqueletales varían en las distintas poblaciones. Diversos autores indican que es posible la determinación del sexo en base a mandíbulas infantiles; sin embargo, existen escasos estudios morfométricos realizados en mandíbulas de niños brasileros. El propósito de este estudio fue analizar distintas dimensiones de mandíbulas y determinar aquellas de utilidad en el diagnóstico forense del sexo, en población infantil brasilera. Se utilizaron 32 mandíbulas de niños brasileros de entre 0 y 1 año de edad, de sexo conocido, pertenecientes a la colección de cráneos de la Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (UNIFESP). Las mediciones mandibulares incluyeron ancho bicondilar, ancho bigonial, ancho mínimo y altura de la rama mandibular, longitud gonion- gnation, altura de la sínfisis mandibular y las dimensiones transversa y anteroposterior del cóndilo. Los datos obtenidos fueron sometidos al t test (p<0,05) y análisis de la función discriminante con SPSS. La mayoría de las dimensiones fueron superiores en hombres que en mujeres, con excepción del ancho mínimo de la rama mandibular (0,2-0,16 mm) y del diámetro transverso del cóndilo derecho (0,16 mm). El diámetro anteroposterior de la cabeza mandibular resultó la más dimórfica de las medidas analizadas, aunque ninguna diferencia resultó estadísticamente significativa. El análisis de la función discriminante indicó que a pesar de las diferencias, éstas no permiten clasificar de acuerdo al sexo, en base a las variables cuantitativas analizadas. En conclusión, la mandíbula de niño en el primer año de vida presenta escaso dimorfismo sexual y no se recomienda el abordaje cuantitativo para la determinación del sexo con fines forenses.