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Dissection, MicroCT Scanning and Morphometric Analyses of the Baculum

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Published on: March 19, 2017

A Geometric Morphometric Study on Sexual Dimorphism in Viscerocranium.

Diana Toneva¹, Silviya Nikolova¹, Elena Tasheva-Terzieva²

¹Department of Anthropology and Anatomy, Institute of Experimental Morphology, Pathology and Anthropology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.

|September 23, 2022

Summary

Sexual dimorphism in the human viscerocranium is key for sex estimation. This study found that overall size and shape of the viscerocranium, particularly the nasal region for size, best differentiate sex.

Keywords:

3D landmarks computed tomography geometric morphometrics sexual dimorphism viscerocranium

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Area of Science:

Forensic Anthropology
Human Anatomy
Biometrics

Background:

Sexual dimorphism in human skeletal remains is crucial for forensic sex estimation.
Understanding variations in the viscerocranium (facial skeleton) aids in developing accurate sex determination methods.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate sexual dimorphism in the size and shape of the human viscerocranium using geometric morphometrics.
To identify specific viscerocranial regions exhibiting significant sex differences.
To determine which region and which parameter (size or shape) is most effective for sex estimation.

Main Methods:

Computed tomography (CT) scans of 156 males and 184 females were analyzed.
3D coordinates of 31 landmarks were digitized across five configurations: whole viscerocranium, orbital, nasal, maxillary, and zygomatic regions.
Generalized Procrustes superimposition, principal component analysis, and discriminant analysis were employed.

Main Results:

Significant sex differences were observed in both size and shape across all analyzed viscerocranial configurations.
The whole viscerocranium yielded the highest accuracy for sex estimation based on combined size and shape.
The nasal region showed the highest accuracy when considering size alone, while the orbital region performed best for shape-based analysis.

Conclusions:

Size is a more effective discriminator of sex than shape in the human viscerocranium.
The entire viscerocranium, especially its size, offers the most reliable data for forensic sex estimation.
Geometric morphometrics provides valuable insights into skeletal sexual dimorphism for anthropological applications.