Osteomics: Decision support systems for forensic anthropologists

Coelho, João d’Oliveira; Curate, Francisco; Navega, David

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815764-0.00005-8

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Regarding morphoscopic ancestry, 14 crania were classified as White and 7 crania were classified as Black, according to the OSSA scores [ 23 ]. The decision support system HefneR [ 24 ] provided the following outcomes based on the highest probability: 10 crania were classified as European, 8 crania were classified as African, and 3 crania were classified as Asian. In detail, 12 crania were classified into a single population group with a probability equal to or above 0.8; in six cases, the highest probability was lower than 0.8 (between 0.72 and 0.50); in three crania, the highest probabilities to be classified in one group were equal to or lower than 0.50, with lower distributions in other classification groups.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method considers two major classification groups, i.e., Black and White. In addition, the decision support system, HefneR on the web-based platform Osteomics [ 24 ] was used to include additional groups (African, American Indian, Asian, and European).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Physical and molecular ancestry estimation results: (1) HefnerR: African, European, Asian, Native American [ 24 ]; (2) OSSA score: Black (Afro-American), White (Euro-American) [ 23 ]; (3) Craniometrics: Somali, Zulu, West Africa, Portuguese; Euro-American; Hainan (Asia); (4) SmartPCA [ 38 ]. , African; , West African; , Zulu; , Somali; , Portuguese; , Euro-American; , Hainan (Asia); , Afro-American.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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How Physical and Molecular Anthropology Interplay in the Creation of Biological Profiles of Unidentified Migrants

Pilli

Palamenghi

Morelli

et al. 2023

Genes

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The skeletal sex and ancestry of unidentified human crania can be inferred both from physical and from molecular features. This paper depicts and discusses the experiences of physical and molecular anthropologists on a set of commingled crania from the largest Mediterranean shipwreck disaster on 18 April 2015, in order to facilitate identification of human crania. Twenty-one disarticulated crania that were recovered from the above-mentioned shipwreck were analyzed to estimate skeletal sex and ancestry, following a physical and a molecular pipeline. The physical analyses applied morphological and metric methods that provided posterior probabilities for the crania to be classified into a sex or ancestral group. The molecular analyses were performed on petrous bones via a shotgun sequencing approach that allowed us to determine the sex of each individual and to retrieve the complete mitochondrial genome, Y chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms, up to 597573 SNPs across the human genome from each individual. The morphometric sex analyses showed that most crania belonged to male individuals, although some estimations remained uncertain or undetermined. Inconsistent results were obtained for ancestry estimation as well, since morphological methods classified the crania mostly as European/White, in contrast to the most numerous African forms determined by craniometric analyses. This quite agreed with molecular analyses that identified only African males. Overall, undetermined and contrasting results were obtained between disciplines, preventing the creation of reliable and sound biological profiles that could provide guidance on the sex and ancestral group of the victims. Therefore, the times may not be mature for a merger of physical and molecular anthropology. However, future investigations of this research avenue would pave the way to the possible development of novel tools, methods, and wider reference databases that could address the limitations of both disciplines.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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How Physical and Molecular Anthropology Interplay in the Creation of Biological Profiles of Unidentified Migrants

Pilli

Palamenghi

Morelli

et al. 2023

Genes

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“…In recent years, the supply of computational tools in forensic anthropology has been increasing (Lynch & Stephan, 2018), although most of these tools have Advances in Anthropology a high financial cost. AncesTrees, however, is a free-to-use statistical program from a universe of tools made available by the Osteomics project (d'Oliveira Coelho et al, 2020) for forensic anthropologists, forensic experts, and scholars in the process of estimating human ancestry in unidentified specimens. The accuracy of this software depends on the craniometric measurements obtained, number of ancestry groups included for analysis, and on the statistical setup Therefore, a more robust database comprising the variety of human populations is required to increase the reliability and accuracy of the algorithms for use in the resolution of forensic cases (Kranioti et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Accuracy of AncesTrees Software in Ancestry Estimation in Brazilian Identified Sample

Fernandes¹,

Bento²,

Rabello³

et al. 2021

Self Cite

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In the present study a software tool for craniometric ancestry estimation, An-cesTrees, was evaluated in an identified Brazilian skeletal sample with known self-reported ancestry. Twenty-three craniometric measures were obtained from each skull and analyzed using AncesTrees software, with two classification strategies-tournamentForest and ancestralForest algorithm. The tournament-Forest (53.54%) and ancestralForest algorithms with three ancestry groups (50.96%) were more accurate to classify Europeans, while the ancestralForest algorithm with six (50.00%) and two (67.64%) groups were more accurate to estimate the ancestry of African descents. Admixed ancestry specimens were classified predominantly as European descent. The use of the ancestralForest algorithm considering only European and African origin (58.42%) was the most accurate setup for ancestry estimation in Brazilian skulls. Supervised classification algorithms and tools such as the AncesTrees work based on data analysis and pattern matching, and there is no Brazilian sample in its database, the software showed a low accuracy Brazilian samples. The incorporation of representative craniometric data obtained from Brazilian skulls into the software database may significantly increase the accuracy of ancestry estimates.

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“…Metrical and morphological information from the skull showed different patterns for ancestry estimation. AncesTrees and HefneR, two free-to-use statistical programs available on the Osteomics website [ 11 ], were used for ancestry evaluation. While metrical analysis (AncesTrees) resulted in a 93.8% probability that the bones belonged to a person of North Asian ancestry, the morphological analysis (HefneR) resulted in African ancestry with a probability of 68.8%.…”

Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case Report of a Criminal Dismemberment in Northeast Brazil

Soriano

Araújo

Pereira

et al. 2022

Forensic Sciences Research

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Several decomposed body parts were received for examination by the Forensic Anthropology section of the Medico-legal Institute of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. The portions of the lower and upper limbs, ribs, vertebrae, and a skull were thoroughly examined. The biological profile indicated a male individual with an estimated age range between 23 and 57 years and a mean age of 35.2 years (SD = 9.4; phase IV, Suchey-Brooks). The skeleton showed injuries caused by sharp force and sharp-blunt force trauma that affected all body segments. Macroscopically, the lesions are mainly in the diaphyseal segments of the long bones, sacrum, pelvis, mandible, maxilla, scapulae, sternum, vertebrae, the distal epiphysis of the left fibula, and the distal epiphysis of the left tibia displayed characteristics compatible with injuries produced perimortem. It was not possible to determine the cause of death. DNA analysis resulted in a positive identification. Because of common difficulties faced in forensic practice, it is often not possible for forensic anthropologists to go to the crime scene, X-ray or body scanners are frequently unavailable, and the victim’s medical and/or dental records are sometimes absent. These difficulties make identification ultimately depend on genetic analysis, which is more time-consuming than other identification methods. Despite this, bone fragment examination in dismemberment cases is a complex task. Forensic Anthropology can shed light on cases involving the identification of dismembered remains, which are challenging because of the number of traumatic injuries, as well as different injury patterns, on bones.

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Osteomics: Decision support systems for forensic anthropologists

Cited by 12 publications

References 38 publications

How Physical and Molecular Anthropology Interplay in the Creation of Biological Profiles of Unidentified Migrants

How Physical and Molecular Anthropology Interplay in the Creation of Biological Profiles of Unidentified Migrants

Analysis of the Accuracy of AncesTrees Software in Ancestry Estimation in Brazilian Identified Sample

Case Report of a Criminal Dismemberment in Northeast Brazil

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