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Forensic anthropologists refer to animal skeletons and to new 3D software to help identify victims.
October 16, 2011 | 4
This skull belonged to a bobcat (Lynx rufus).
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This skull belonged to a domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
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This skull belonged to a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).
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This skull belonged to a snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina).
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This skull belonged to a turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).
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4 Comments
Add CommentWhat is the error margin of the software when it is identifying male and female skulls today?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot mentioned in the original article is the fact that the size of the brain in males is significantly larger, on average, in men than in women. The same results in a skull that is larger, on average, in men than in women.Just by looking at the skulls presented in this article, it is relatively easy to discern that the male skull is significantly larger in the male. This difference in average skull sizes between men in women has been known for thousands of years. Of course, this is an AVERAGE difference. Some women have skulls and brain sizes significantly larger than the average male and some males have skulls and brain sizes significantly smaller than the average female.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNagnostic, your comment is inappropriate and incorrect. Archimedes correctly pointed out that on AVERAGE male skull sizes are larger than female, but this is about the least useful metric when sexing human skulls. There is too much overlap in modern humans for this to even be a metric, which is why this article correctly doesn't bother mentioning it. You could never look at a human skeleton and say, "It falls within average male size therefore it is male". If you've happened to be in a large crowd of people you would have noticed there are plenty of women bigger than the average man, and vice versa. That's why they are pointing out all the actual differences between male and female that you use to sex a skull!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou're the one with an ax to grind; if you'd been in a human evolution or human anatomy class recently you certainly would have heard about these sexual differences, including the fact that male skulls (and brains) are, on average, larger than female skulls. There's a good reason to discuss it since it illustrates the point that larger brains are needed for larger bodies, not that it makes men smarter!
Comments like yours are unconstructive, and more importantly, unscientific. Please keep your flagrantly biased opinions to yourself.
If I'm not wrong, there is a procedure for the remodelling of face over a skull? Doesn't this help in determining the gender from a skull via facial features as well?
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