title: determination of sex in south african blacks by discriminant function analysis of mandibular linear dimensions : A preliminary investigation using the zulu local population.
abstract: The determination of sex is a critical component in forensic anthropological investigation. The literature attests to numerous metrical standards, each utilizing diffetent skeletal elements, for sex determination in South A frican Blacks. Metrical standards are popular because they provide a high degree of expected accuracy and are less error-prone than subjective nonmetric visual techniques. We note, however, that there appears to be no established metric mandible discriminant function standards for sex determination in this population.We report here on a preliminary investigation designed to evaluate whether the mandible is a practical element for sex determination in South African Blacks. The sample analyzed comprises 40 nonpathological Zulu individuals drawn from the R.A. Dart Collection. Ten linear measurements, obtained from mathematically trans-formed three-dimensional landmark data, are analyzed using basic univariate statistics and discriminant function analyses. Seven of the 10 measurements examined are found to be sexually dimorphic; the dimensions of the ramus are most dimorphic. The sex classification accuracy of the discriminant functions ranged from 72.5 to 87.5% for the univariate method, 92.5% for the stepwise method, and 57.5 to 95% for the direct method. We conclude that the mandible is an extremely useful element for sex determination in this population.
authors: Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western Australia M420, 35 Stirling Highway, 6009, Crawley, Western Australia, dfranklin@anhb.uwa.edu.au.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Franklin
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: O'Higgins
authors: Charles E
authors: CE
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authors: Ian
authors: I
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