Determination of sex from femora

doi:10.1016/S0379-0738(00)00240-1

Forensic Science International

Volume 113, Issues 1–3, 11 September 2000, Pages 315-321

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0379-0738(00)00240-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

The determination of sex from bones or bone fragments considerably contributes to identifying unknown bodies or skeletal remains. Due to temporal change and regional differences anthropometric standards have to be constantly renewed. The present study provides measurements of femoral dimensions in a contemporary German population and analyses sexual dimorphism by discriminant analysis. Maximum length (male: 46.4±2.4 cm, female: 43.4±2.4 cm), maximum midshaft diameter (male: 3.1±0.2 cm, female: 2.8±0.2 cm), condylar width (male: 8.4±1.0 cm, female: 7.7±0.5 cm), vertical head diameter (male: 4.9±0.3 cm, female: 4.4±0.3 cm), head circumference (male: 15.7±0.8 cm, female: 13.8±1.0 cm) and transverse head diameter (male: 4.9±0.3 cm, female: 4.3±0.3 cm) were measured in 170 femora, 100 from male (age: 16–92 years, mean: 60.8 years; body height: 153–190 cm, mean: 171 cm) and 70 from female (age: 20–96 years, mean: 72 years; body height: 146–175 cm, mean: 161 cm) individuals. In the discriminant analysis (leave-one-out-method) 67.7% of cases could be grouped correctly with the maximum length alone, 72.4% with the maximum midshaft diameter, 81.4% with the condylar width, 86.8% with the vertical head diameter, 87.7% with the head circumference and 89.6% with the transverse head diameter. The stepwise procedure with all head measurements showed that the results for the transverse head diameter could not be improved. With all measurements subjected to stepwise procedure 91.7% of cases could be classified correctly combining midshaft diameter and head circumference (D=3.012×midshaft diameter in cm+0.780×head circumference in cm 20.569).

Introduction

Determining sex is one of the first and most important steps in identifying decomposed corpses or skeletal remains. It is important to gain data on the sexual dimorphism of many bone dimensions in order to be able to assess sex in case only parts of corpses are found. As commonly accepted anthropometric standards considerably vary among different populations, they also have to be constantly renewed to cope with temporal change.

Various studies dealing with determining sex from femoral measurements can be cited from the anthropological and forensic literature. Steyn and Iscan [1] investigated femora from a White South African population, Iscan and Shihai [2] and Liu [3] from a Chinese. DiBennardo and Taylor [4] tested a method previously developed by Black [5] in a sample of femora from North American Whites. Schulter-Ellis et al. [6], [7], [8] in their investigations on pelvic dimensions mention data for the femoral head diameter in North American Blacks, Eskimos, Indians and Whites. Leopold [9], [10] cites own measurements of length and vertical head diameter in German individuals. Pons [11] took femoral measurements in a Portugese population. While the above studies are from contemporary samples (some [6], [7], [8] are from collections at the Smithonian Institute; some from individuals who died in the 1930s [2] or about the end of the 19th century [11]), MacLaughlin and Bruce [12] analysed the sexual dimorphism of the femoral midshaft diameter in a prehistoric Scottish population.

The present investigation aims at obtaining measurements for six different femoral dimensions (length, head and shaft diameters, distal width) in a contemporary German population. In medico-legal practice statements on the probable sex of an unknown decomposed body are often expected already during the autopsy. Our study was therefore restricted to six relatively easily accessible dimensions. The bones were prepared by removing soft tissues, muscles, tendons and ligaments as can be done in the course of an autopsy; long-lasting complex processes like drying were avoided.

Section snippets

Material

The sample of the femora for the study came partly from the dissection courses in the years 1994–1997 of the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Cologne and partly from autopsies carried out in the Institute of Legal Medicine at the University of Tübingen since 1990. A total of 170 femora, 100 from male and 70 from female individuals were included in the study; bones with healed fractures or severe degenerative changes were excluded. The mean age of the male individuals was 60.8 years

Results

Table 1 presents the means and corresponding standard deviations of the measured dimensions for males and females and the results of the t-test for the equality of means: t-value (t), number of the degrees of freedom (dof), P-value (P), standard error of the difference between the means (SE_diff) and 95%-confidence interval for the difference (95%-CI_diff). The first six lines of Table 2 give the results of the discriminant analysis for each of the dimensions measured: the unstandardized

Maximum length

Steyn and Iscan [1] determined a maximum length of 469,68 mm±27.97 (males) and 437.62 mm±20.65 (females) for a contemporary White South African population. Iscan and Shihai [2] obtained a mean length of 442.19 mm±22.9 (males) and 400.97 mm±19.71 (females) in Chinese individuals that died in the 1930s. Liu [3] measured values of 431.3 mm±25.8 (males) and 394.1 mm±15.5 (females) in a contemporary Chinese population. Leopold [9], [10] cites own investigations in a German population with a femoral

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Dr. J. Koebke, Institute of Anatomy, University of Cologne, for kindly providing the specimens.

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View full text

Determination of sex from femora

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Material

Results

Maximum length

Acknowledgements

Forensic Sci. Int.

Forensic Sci. Int.

Sex determination of Chinese femur by discriminant function

J. Forensic Sci.

Sex assessment of the femur: A test of a new method

Am. J. Phys. Anthrop.

A new method for assessing the sex of fragmentary skeletal remains: femoral shaft circumference

Am. J. Phys. Anthrop.

Determination of sex with a discriminant analysis of new pelvic bone measurements: Part I

J. Forensic Sci.