title: Sexual dimorphism in Brazilian human skulls: discriminant function analysis.
abstract: Many anthropological studies have shown that sex can be determined using the human skeleton, especially by examining the pelvis and skull. The aim of this study was to verify the presence of sexual dimorphism in the Brazilian population by craniometric analysis; to identify the most reliable measurements and to propose a discriminant function for sex determination. The selected sample was composed of 100 adult skulls, 50 male and 50 female, from Cuiabá city, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Of all the measurements taken, only the difference between the bi-euryon distances has proven insignificant, while themost dimorphic measure was the bi-zygomatic diameter. A discriminant function was obtained by applying the bi-zygomatic and the basion-lambda measurements, with a confidence level of 72%. The authors concluded that most of the traits analyzed are sexually dimorphic and the discriminant function elaborated is reliable for sex determination in human identification for forensic purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Dentistry, State University of Campinas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Osvaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fortes de Oliveira
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lima Ribeiro Tinoco
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Daruge Júnior
authors.forename: Andrea Sayuri
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Silveira Dias Terada
authors.forename: Ricardo Henrique
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Alves da Silva
authors.forename: Luiz Renato
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Paranhos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D059925:Anatomic Landmarks; D001938:Brazil; D002508:Cephalometry / Q000379:methods*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D061827:Dimensional Measurement Accuracy; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044469:Racial Groups; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D054881:Sex Determination by Skeleton; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric