Sex Determination from the Frontal Bone: a Geometric Morphometric Study

Sex estimation in human skeletal remains when using the cranium through traditional methods is a fundamental pillar in human identification; however, it may be possible to incur in a margin of error due because of the state of preservation in incomplete or fragmented remains. The aim of this investigation was sex estimation through the geometric morphometric analysis of the frontal bone. The sample employed 60 lateral radiographs of adult subjects of both sexes (30 males and 30 females), aged between 18 and 40 years, with mean age for males of 28 ± 4 and 30 ± 6 years for females. Thin-plate splines evidenced strong expansion of the glabellar region in males and contraction in females. No significant differences were found between sexes with respect to size. The findings suggest differences in shape and size in the glabellar region, besides reaffirming the use of geometric morphometrics as a quantitative method in sex estimation.