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Test of the auricular surface sex estimation method in fetuses and non-adults under 5 years old from the Lisbon and Granada Reference Collections

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Abstract

Non-adult sex estimation is an active field of forensic inquiry as morphological variations between males and females are subtle, but observable, even from intrauterine development. The objectives of this study are threefold: to test the validity of the auricular surface method for sex estimation (Int J Osteoarchaeol 27:898–911, 2017) in fetuses and children under the age of 5 years old; to evaluate if health conditions, reported as the cause of death, influence its accuracy; and to detect possible secular trends in sexual dimorphism. One-hundred and ninety-seven skeletal individuals from the Lisbon and Granada Identified Collections were studied. Individuals were divided according to the hormonal peaks (< 0, 0–2, < 2, and 2.1–5 years old), cause, and year of death (before and after 1960). As in previous studies, two ratios (FI/CF and DE/AD) and two qualitative variables (OM and MRS) showed the highest frequencies of correct estimation (0.81–0.86). The correct sex allocations increased when the discriminant function (0.85) and logistic regression (0.86) were applied. Males of the age groups < 0 and 2.1–5 years were all correctly sexed by both formulae, and the same was observed for the female probabilities of adequate allocation. The cause and year of death were identified as variables without statistical significance. It is proposed that this method can be incorporated with confidence into the multifactorial laboratory protocols for non-adult sex estimation from skeletal remains.

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Acknowledgments

To Susana Garcia, Judite Alves, and the National Museum of Natural History and Science (Lisbon, Portugal) and to Miguel Botella, Inmaculada Alemán, and the Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology of the University of Granada (Spain). To two anonymous reviewers who improved the content of this paper through their comments and suggestions. To CIAS (Research Centre for Anthropology and Health), FCT-Pest-E/SADG/UI0283/2019, and FCT-Fellowship SFRH/BD/115691/2016 [AMC]. To Pablo Rodríguez, Dean of the Faculty of Odontology, University of Buenos Aires.

Funding

This study is financially supported by FCT-Pest-E/SADG/UI0283/2019 and FCT-Fellowship SFRH/BD/115691/2016 [AMC].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CONICET-IMHICIHU. Multidisciplinary Institute of History and Human Sciences, Saavedra 15, 1083, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leandro H. Luna

  2. Faculty of Odontology, University of Buenos Aires, Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear 2142, 1122, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Claudia M. Aranda

  3. Research Centre for Anthropology and Health (CIAS), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal

    Álvaro M. Monge Calleja & Ana Luísa Santos

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  1. Leandro H. Luna
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Correspondence to Leandro H. Luna.

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Luna, L.H., Aranda, C.M., Monge Calleja, Á.M. et al. Test of the auricular surface sex estimation method in fetuses and non-adults under 5 years old from the Lisbon and Granada Reference Collections. Int J Legal Med 135, 993–1003 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02431-9

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