title: Forensic Applicability of Femur Subtrochanteric Shape to Ancestry Assessment in Thai and White American Males.
abstract: Ancestry assessment from the postcranial skeleton presents a significant challenge to forensic anthropologists. However, metric dimensions of the femur subtrochanteric region are believed to distinguish between individuals of Asian and non-Asian descent. This study tests the discriminatory power of subtrochanteric shape using modern samples of 128 Thai and 77 White American males. Results indicate that the samples' platymeric index distributions are significantly different (p≤0.001), with the Thai platymeric index range generally lower and the White American range generally higher. While the application of ancestry assessment methods developed from Native American subtrochanteric data results in low correct classification rates for the Thai sample (50.8-57.8%), adapting these methods to the current samples leads to better classification. The Thai data may be more useful in forensic analysis than previously published subtrochanteric data derived from Native American samples. Adapting methods to include appropriate geographic and contemporaneous populations increases the accuracy of femur subtrochanteric ancestry methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, 250 South Stadium Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996.
authors.forename: Sean D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Tallman
authors.affiliation: C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory, University of Florida, 1376 Mowry Road, Room G17, Gainesville, FL 32611.|Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Building 45, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI 96860.
authors.forename: Allysha P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Winburn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013785:Thailand; D014481:United States; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ancestry assessment; femur; forensic anthropology; forensic science; platymeric index; subtrochanteric shape