Understanding sexual dimorphism is very important in studies of human evolution and skeletal biology. The ability to determine sex from unknown skeletal remains is vital and methods to do this on the various bones of the human skeleton have been researched extensively especially in the studies related to forensic anthropology. The distinctive morphology and clear sexual dimorphism of the hip bone makes it an ideal bone for sex determination. Whereas the roles of the parameters of its posterior border (including the greater sciatic notch) are well established, those of the anterior border are not much explored. The present study was designed to establish the morphometric pattern of the anterior border of the hip bone and its role in sexual dimorphism. Material for the current investigation comprised 100 hip bones belonging to 50 cadavers ([M:F = 80:20] and [R:L = 50:50]) obtained from the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab, India. Sixteen parameters of the anterior border were taken and three indices were calculated. Eight parameters were significantly greater in males: (i) straight distance anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS)-symphyseal surface (SS); (ii) straight distance ASIS-pubic tubercle (PT); (iii) straight distance anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS)-SS; (iv) straight distance AIIS-PT; (v) arch of anterior interspinous notch (ASIS-AIIS); (vi) arch between AIIS and ilio-pubic (IP); (vii) depth of notch between AIIS and IP; (viii) arch of anterior border (ASIS-SS). The results of the present study could be helpful in pronouncing an opinion, for a single specimen, about its origin in general terms or sex.

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Background: Identification of sexing human skeletal remains is an important component and frequently the starting point of many forensic anthropological investigations. Skeletal biologists had recognized that each population group requires its own specific standards for accurate determination of sex. The pelvis is probably the most accurate bone from which sex can be determined. The subpubic angles show more definitive sex difference indicating the presence of interpopulation variations.

During the evolution from the lower animals to man, the upper limbs have acquired a great mobility, but at the cost of their stability. The reverse is true for the lower limbs. The muscular anomalies which are common in the upper limbs are largely explainable on a phylogenetic basis. The same is true for the vascular anomalies. However, such anomalies are usually seen singly and they are never together in the same limb or in two limbs of the same body. The upper limbs which are being reported here had multiple musculovascular anomalies and some of these were bilateral. These include the superficial brachial artery, the accessory head of the biceps brachii, the accessory muscular slips which arose from the common flexor origin and went to the tendons of the flexor digitorum profundus and the flexor pollicis longus separately, bifurcation of the tendon of insertion of the brachioradialis and bifurcated (split) insertion of the third lumbrical on the adjacent fingers. Though all these variations have been described in the standard text books of Anatomy, their occurrence, together in one limb and the bilateral presentations of some of these, have never been encountered. Almost all these variations have been explained phylogenically, thus supporting the dictum, "The ontogeny repeats the phylogeny." Furthermore, their clinical significance has also been discussed.

Background: Different bones of the human skeleton present age-, sex-and race-related dissimilarities, so that using visual criteria & metric techniques, age, sex, and race of an individual can be estimated from these bones. One such bone is the hip bone whose characteristic morphology makes it interesting from anatomical, anthropological, and forensic point of view. Its features are important not only for the anatomist but also for the anthropologist, for population studies & for forensic experts for specimen recognition and gender determination of skeletal remains. The three constituent parts of hip bone i.e ilium, ischium and pubis depict different gender specific features. The pubis showing pubertal changes first of all are being considered in this article. Its different parameters will be definitely helpful to anatomists, anthropologists & forensic experts in their respective fields. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted on 100 adult undamaged human hip bones, (M:F=80:20, R:L= 50:50) obtained from the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Amritsar. The various dimensions of the pubis measured were (1) Mid Pubic Width, (2) Length of Pubic Crest, (3) Length of Pubic Bone, (4) Length of Pubic bone upto acetabulum. The observations were statistically evaluated to find out sex & side related differences.Results: All the pubic parameters measured were significantly larger in female bones as compared to male bones, except the mid pubic width. However no significant side specific pattern could be determined in either sex. Conclusions:There is a relative paucity of region specific data for the various parameters of pubis in the accessible literature. Thus the present study advocates the significance of pubis in sexual dimorphism, for sex determination & provides reference values for the North India region.

Background Acetabulum is a cup-shaped cavity of the hipbone. It constitutes the acetabular part of the hip joint. Its shape and position related to the head of the femur are crucial for the biomechanics of this joint. The knowledge of various acetabular dimensions is essential to diagnose various diseases of hip joint, to monitor patient recovery, to determine stability of the hip joint, to assess acetabular dysplasia, and also to create patient-specific acetabular implants in case of hip arthroplasty. Various parameters of acetabulum differ with respect to age, sex, race, and region. Thus, a region-specific knowledge of the acetabular dimensions will be helpful for surgical reconstruction and sex determination. Materials and Methods The current study was conducted on 100 adult os coxae (male:female = 80:20, right:left = 50:50). The various acetabular dimensions measured were (1) breadth of acetabulum, (2) vertical diameter of acetabulum, (3) maximum depth of acetabulum, (4) linear length of acetabular notch, (5) length of acetabular rim, and (6) total length of acetabular rim with notch. The values were statistically evaluated to find out the sex and side-related differences. Results All the parameters measured were larger in male bones as compared with female bones. Nevertheless, the difference in values was significant only for breadth of acetabulum, vertical diameter of acetabulum, length of acetabular rim, and total length of acetabular rim with notch. Also, the values were more on left side although results were insignificant. Conclusions The results of the present study will provide reference acetabular values for North India region.

The distinctive morphology and sexual dimorphism of the human hip bone makes it of interest from the anatomical, anthropological and forensic points of view. The shape of the greater sciatic notch has attracted great attention in the past. In the current investigation, an attempt has been made to find the baseline data of various parameters pertaining to the greater sciatic notch of 100 hip bones of known sex (male:female = 80:20) and side (right:left = 50:50), obtained from the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab, India, during the period 2007-2009. Seven parameters of the notch, viz. width, depth, posterior segment width, total angle, posterior segment angle, index I and index II of the greater sciatic notch were studied. The results thus obtained were compiled, tabulated, statistically analysed and were compared with the accessible literature. Out of all the parameters studied, width of the notch, posterior segment width, total angle, posterior segment angle and index II of notch were found to be significantly greater in women as compared with men. Thus the greater sciatic notch can serve as a reliable sex indicator even when the complete hip bone has not been well preserved.

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