Biological Sexual Profile Based on Linear Dimensions of Humeri and Femurs of Adult Brazilian Human Skeletons

Abstract

This research aimed to assess the predictive ability and applicability for sexual diagnosis of algorithms developed from measurements of humeri and femurs from skeletons belonging to the CEAF Identified Skeletal Collection of the University of Pernambuco, Brazil. The sample was composed of 483 humeri and 452 femurs, obtained from 401 skeletons, 208 male and 193 female, with ages ranging from 15 to 109 years. The variables used were the transverse and vertical diameters of the humeral and femoral heads and the epicondylar width of these bones. The data collected were analyzed using R software (version 3.6.1, R Foundation for Statistical Computing). Only the univariate logistic regressions were considered predictive, making it possible to estimate sex based on any single variable in this study. The accuracy ranged from 93.8% to 97.5% for the humerus evaluation and from 92.9% to 95.6% for femurs, with the transverse diameter of the right humeral head being the most dimorphic measurement. Therefore, it is inferred that the sexual dimorphism present in the measurements of the humeri and femurs of our sample is high and enables the classification of sex reliably and assertively using the algorithms created.