title: Sex determination of human crania using Mastoid triangle and Opisthion-Bimastoid triangle.
abstract: In the present study an attempt has been made to establish standards for sex determination from the various direct and indirect measurements of the cranium. A total of 100 cranium (50 of either sex) were measured for nine direct measurements pertaining to Mastoid triangle and Opisthion-Bimastoid triangle. These measurements were used further to calculate four indirect measurements pertaining to the calculation of Opisthion-Bimastoid triangle area and angles. Analysis of data reveals that the male crania exhibit greater values for all the measurements except the angle right Mastoidale-Opisthion-left Mastoidale. The sex difference has been observed to be statistically significant for all the measurements except for the angles of the Opisthion-Bimastoid triangle. Sectioning point was calculated for the diagnosis of sex based on the mean values of these measurements; the accuracy of sex determination varied from measurement to measurement. The highest value for determining sex was obtained for Asterion-Mastoidale length of right side i.e. 80%, followed by Bi-mastoid breadth i.e. 75%. This suggests that these measurements could be used with relatively high degree of accuracy in determining sex of the unknown crania.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, Punjabi University, Patiala 147002, India.
authors.forename: Deepali
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Jasuja
authors.forename: Surinder
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nath
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005539:Foramen Magnum / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008416:Mastoid / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D054881:Sex Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods*