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Humeral condylar differences between sexes may be used for forensic determination of sex.
Author(s) -
Davies Cara,
Rhoades Derek,
Straub Melissa
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.742.4
Subject(s) - condyle , sexing , anthropometry , cadaveric spasm , biology , anatomy , sexual dimorphism , orthodontics , medicine , zoology
Anatomic differences in size of skeletal elements between men and women exist; these differences can be used forensically to determine sex of unidentified human remains. Femora are the most commonly used long‐bone for this purpose; little data exists on sex differences between humeri. Twenty‐two cadaveric donors, 12 male and 10 female, were evaluated with anthropometric measurements to determine if differences of humeral condyles exist between sexes. The males were taller and had longer bones than their female counterparts; preliminary analysis indicates the size of the humeral condyles collectively, as well as the capitulum or trochlea individually in females is statistically smaller than in males. These results were confirmed post‐hoc via one‐way ANOVA analysis (p < 0.001). Taken together, these differences may be an application for forensic sex determination, particularly in the case of partial or scattered remains, where other bones typically used for sexing are not available.