Abstract
One of the scopes of practice of forensic anthropologists is the estimation of sex from skeletal remains. As a result, population-specific discriminant function equations have been developed from measurements of various bones of the human skeletons. Steyn, Patriquin (Forensic Sci Int 191 (1-3):113, 2009) noted that the lack of skeletal collections and data from most parts of the world has made this process impractical. Previous attempts to develop global discriminant function equations from measurements of the pelvis showed that population-specific equations are not necessary as equations derived from other populations yielded high sex estimation scores when applied to a different population. However, information on the suitability and applicability of generalised equations in sex estimation using long bones is still scarce. It is, therefore, the aim of this study to assess the accuracies of population-specific discriminant function equations derived from measurements of long bones of the upper limb of South African population groups. Data analysed in the current study were obtained from Mokoena, Billings, Bidmos, Mazengenya (Forensic Sci Int 278:404, 2017) and Mokoena, Billings, Gibbon, Bidmos, Mazengenya (Science & Justice 6(59):660–666, 2019) in which a total sample of 988 bones (humeri, radii, and ulnae) of South Africans of African descent (SAAD), South Africans of European descent (SAED) and Mixed Ancestry South Africans (MASA) were measured. Stepwise and direct discriminant function analyses were performed on the pooled data. Each function was used to estimate the sex of cases in each population group separately and average accuracies calculated. Thereafter, population-specific discriminant function equations were formulated for each population group and then applied to other population groups. The average accuracies of functions for pooled data ranged between 80.7 and 86.5%. The cross-validation average accuracies remained unchanged for most functions, confirming the validity of derived functions. A drop in average accuracies (0.8–5.3%) was observed when the functions were tested on a sample of SAAD while increased average accuracy was observed for the SAED and MASA (0.5–6.9%). When population-specific functions for a particular population group were applied to other groups, a wide range of a drop in average accuracies was observed (1.3 to 22.4%). This thereby confirms that population-specific equations should not be applied to other population groups. However, discriminant function equations from the pooled data of South Africans are accurate in the estimation of sex and efforts should be made towards the development and validation of such equations from as many bones of the human skeleton.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
İşcan MY, Loth SR (1997) The scope of forensic anthropology. In: Eckert WG (ed) Introduction to forensic sciences. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 343–369
Krishan K, Chatterjee PM, Kanchan T, Kaur S, Baryah N, Singh R (2016) A review of sex estimation techniques during examination of skeletal remains in forensic anthropology casework. Forensic Sci Int 261:165. e161-165. e168
Iscan MY, Steyn M (2013) The human skeleton in forensic medicine. Charles C Thomas Publisher, Springfield
Krogman WM, Isçan MY (1986) The human skeleton in forensic medicine. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, pp 413–457
Bruzek J (2002) A method for visual determination of sex, using the human hip bone. Am J Phys Anthropol 117(2):157–168
González PN, Bernal V, Perez SI, Barrientos G (2007) Analysis of dimorphic structures of the human pelvis: its implications for sex estimation in samples without reference collections. J Archaeol Sci 34(10):1720–1730
Mokoena P, Billings BK, Gibbon V, Bidmos MA, Mazengenya P (2019) Development of discriminant functions to estimate sex in upper limb bones for mixed ancestry South Africans. Sci Justice 6(59):660–666
Steyn M, İşcan MY (1997) Sex determination from the femur and tibia in south African whites. Forensic Sci Int 90(1–2):111–119
Steyn M, İşcan MY (1999) Osteometric variation in the humerus: sexual dimorphism in South Africans. Forensic Sci Int 106(2):77–85
Steyn M, İşcan MY (1998) Sexual dimorphism in the crania and mandibles of South African whites. Forensic Sci Int 98(1–2):9–16
Asala SA, Bidmos MA, Dayal MR (2004) Discriminant function sexing of fragmentary femur of South African blacks. Forensic Sci Int 145(1):25–29
Bidmos M, Adebesin A, Mazengenya P, Olateju O, Adegboye O (2020) Estimation of sex from metatarsals using discriminant function and logistic regression analyses. Aust J Forensic Sci:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2019.1711180
Fasemore MD, Bidmos MA, Mokoena P, Imam A, Billings BK, Mazengenya P (2018) Dimensions around the nutrient foramina of the tibia and fibula in the estimation of sex. Forensic Sci Int 287:222. e221-222. e227
Burrows AM, Zanella VP, Brown TM (2003) Testing the validity of metacarpal use in sex assessment of human skeletal remains. J Forensic Sci 48(1):1–4
Kotěrová A, Velemínská J, Dupej J, Brzobohatá H, Pilný A, Brůžek J (2017) Disregarding population specificity: its influence on the sex assessment methods from the tibia. Int J Legal Med 131(1):251–261
Hora M, Sládek V (2018) Population specificity of sex estimation from vertebrae. Forensic Sci Int 291:279. e271-279. e212
Spradley MK, Jantz RL (2011) Sex estimation in forensic anthropology: skull versus postcranial elements. J Forensic Sci 56(2):289–296
Dayal MR, Spocter MA, Bidmos MA (2008) An assessment of sex using the skull of black South Africans by discriminant function analysis. Homo 59(3):209–221
Albanese J (2013) A method for estimating sex using the clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna. J Forensic Sci 58(6):1413–1419
Papaioannou VA, Kranioti EF, Joveneaux P, Nathena D, Michalodimitrakis M (2012) Sexual dimorphism of the scapula and the clavicle in a contemporary Greek population: applications in forensic identification. Forensic Sci Int 217(1-3):231. e231-231. e237
Mokoena P, Billings BK, Bidmos MA, Mazengenya P (2017) Sex estimation using dimensions around the nutrient foramen of the long bones of the arm and forearm in South Africans. Forensic Sci Int 278:404. e401-404. e405
Albanese J, Cardoso HF, Saunders SR (2005) Universal methodology for developing univariate sample-specific sex determination methods: an example using the epicondylar breadth of the humerus. J Archaeol Sci 32(1):143–152
Bongiovanni R, Spradley MK (2012) Estimating sex of the human skeleton based on metrics of the sternum. Forensic Sci Int 219(1-3):290. e291-290. e297
Chandrakanth H, Kanchan T, Krishan K (2014) Osteometric analysis for sexing of modern sternum–an autopsy study from South India. Legal Med 16(6):350–356
García-Parra P, Fernández ÁP, Djorojevic M, Botella M, Alemán I (2014) Sexual dimorphism of human sternum in a contemporary Spanish population. Forensic Sci Int 244:313. e311-313. e319
Gonzalez PN, Bernal V, Perez SI (2009) Geometric morphometric approach to sex estimation of human pelvis. Forensic Sci Int 189(1–3):68–74
Case DT, Ross AH (2007) Sex determination from hand and foot bone lengths. J Forensic Sci 52(2):264–270
Falsetti AB (1995) Sex assessment from metacarpals of the human hand. J Forensic Sci 40(5):774–776
Jee S-C, Bahn S, Yun MH (2015) Determination of sex from various hand dimensions of Koreans. Forensic Sci Int 257:521. e521-521. e510
Smith SL (1996) Attribution of hand bones to sex and population groups. J Forensic Sci 41(3):469–477
Wilbur AK (1998) The utility of hand and foot bones for the determination of sex and the estimation of stature in a prehistoric population from west-central Illinois. Int J Osteoarchaeol 8(3):180–191
Bidmos MA, Asala SA (2003) Discriminant function sexing of the calcaneus of the South African whites. J Forensic Sci 48(6):1213–1218
Bidmos MA, Asala SA (2004) Sexual dimorphism of the calcaneus of South African blacks. J Forensic Sci 49(3):446–450
Cardoso HF (2008) Sample-specific (universal) metric approaches for determining the sex of immature human skeletal remains using permanent tooth dimensions. J Archaeol Sci 35(1):158–168
STATS SA (2019) Governance, public safety and justice survey. , vol Accessed 20 February 2020
Franklin D, Freedman L, Milne N (2005) Sexual dimorphism and discriminant function sexing in indigenous South African crania. Homo 55(3):213–228
Krüger GC, L’Abbé EN, Stull KE (2017) Sex estimation from the long bones of modern South Africans. Int J Legal Med 131(1):275–285
Bidmos M, Steinberg N, Kuykendall K (2005) Patella measurements of South African whites as sex assessors. Homo 56(1):69–74
Bidmos MA, Dayal MR (2003) Sex determination from the talus of South African whites by discriminant function analysis. Am J Forensic Med Pathol 24(4):322–328
Steyn M, Patriquin M (2009) Osteometric sex determination from the pelvis—does population specificity matter? Forensic Sci Int 191(1-3):113. e111-113. e115
Macho GA (1990) Is sexual dimorphism in the femur a “population specific phenomenon”? Z Morphol Anthropol 78(2):229–242
Albanese J, Osley SE, Tuck A (2012) Do century-specific equations provide better estimates of stature? A test of the 19–20th century boundary for the stature estimation feature in Fordisc 3.0. Forensic science international 219(1-3):286. e281-286. e283
Macaluso PJ Jr (2010) Sex determination from the acetabulum: test of a possible non-population-specific discriminant function equation. J Forensic Legal Med 17(6):348–351
Mazengenya P, Billings B (2016) Topographic and morphometric features of the nutrient foramina of the fibula in the South African mixed-ancestry population group and their surgical relevance. Eur J Anat 20(4):329–336
Mazengenya P, Fasemore MD (2015) Morphometric studies of the nutrient foramen in lower limb long bones of adult black and white South Africans. Eur J Anat 19(2):155–163
Pereira G, Lopes P, Santos A, Silveira F (2011) Nutrient foramina in the upper and lower limb long bones: morphometric study in bones of Southern Brazilian adults. Int J Morphol 29(2):514–520
Dayal MR, Kegley AD, Štrkalj G, Bidmos MA, Kuykendall KL (2009) The history and composition of the Raymond A. Dart collection of human skeletons at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Am J Phys Anthropol 140(2):324–335
Maass P, Friedling LJ (2019) Documented composition of cadaveric skeletal remains in the University of Cape Town Human Skeletal Collection, South Africa. Forensic Sci Int 294:219. e211-219. e217
Charisi D, Eliopoulos C, Vanna V, Koilias CG, Manolis SK (2011) Sexual dimorphism of the arm bones in a modern Greek population. J Forensic Sci 56(1):10–18
Scott S, Ruengdit S, Peckmann TR, Mahakkanukrauh P (2017) Sex estimation from measurements of the calcaneus: applications for personal identification in Thailand. Forensic Sci Int 278:405. e401-405. e408
Patriquin ML, Loth S, Steyn M (2003) Sexually dimorphic pelvic morphology in South African whites and blacks. Homo 53(3):255–262
Bidmos MA, Dayal MR (2004) Further evidence to show population specificity of discriminant function equations for sex determination using the talus of South African blacks. J Forensic Sci 49(6):1165–1170
Holman DJ, Bennett KA (1991) Determination of sex from arm bone measurements. Am J Phys Anthropol 84(4):421–426
Mall G, Hubig M, Büttner A, Kuznik J, Penning R, Graw M (2001) Sex determination and estimation of stature from the long bones of the arm. Forensic Sci Int 117(1–2):23–30
Frutos LR (2005) Metric determination of sex from the humerus in a Guatemalan forensic sample. Forensic Sci Int 147(2–3):153–157
Kranioti EF, Michalodimitrakis M (2009) Sexual dimorphism of the humerus in contemporary Cretans—a population-specific study and a review of the literature. J Forensic Sci 54(5):996–1000
Dayal MR, Bidmos A (2005) Discriminating sex in south African blacks using patella dimensions. J Forensic Sci 50(6):1294–1297
Stull KE, Kenyhercz MW, L’Abbé EN (2014) Ancestry estimation in South Africa using craniometrics and geometric morphometrics. Forensic Sci Int 245:206. e201–206. e207
Albanese J, Tuck A, Gomes J, Cardoso HF (2016) An alternative approach for estimating stature from long bones that is not population-or group-specific. Forensic Sci Int 259:59–68
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bidmos, M.A., Mazengenya, P. Accuracies of discriminant function equations for sex estimation using long bones of upper extremities. Int J Legal Med 135, 1095–1102 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02458-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02458-y