An autopsy case of human skeletal remains with a numerical variation in thoraco-lumbar vertebrae

Unidentified skeletal remains with almost every part of a single body were found in a closed shed; it wore a jacket, pants and underwears. It was brought to Hamamatsu University School of Medicine for autopsy. We estimated the victim to be male, 50-65 years old, 164-168cm high and at 5-10 years after death. The cause of his death was not clear. During the careful examination, we noticed that there was an extra vertebra (vertebra X), at the thoraco-lumbar region. The vertebra X was located between T12 and L1, and showed intermediate properties of T12 and L1. The presence of numerical variations in the thoraco-lumbar vertebrae should be more well-known for forensic scientists; the knowledge seems very important for the judgment whether the remains are of a single or multiple individuals.