Data from the Forensic Anthropology Data Bank at the University of Tennessee were used to evaluate secular changes in tibia and femur length, to evaluate the applicability of Terry-based regression formulae to modern females, and to revise existing female formulae to provide better estimates of stature from lower limb bone length. The first step was to compare long bone lengths from modern forensic cases to those used by Trotter and Gleser. The Trotter-Gleser formulae were then used to estimate stature from long bone lengths. Estimates were compared to living statures recorded in the forensic data bank. Terry females were significantly shorter in all lengths for both whites and blacks. Among blacks, the modern versus Terry difference was about the same for both bones. In whites, however, the tibia difference was more than twice that of the femur. These findings imply the existence of a change in proportion in whites, the tibia being relatively longer in modern individuals. The findings also illustrate problems in estimating living stature from long bone lengths that concern biological causes of secular changes in femur-tibia proportions and the manner in which stature is attributed to individuals. 15 references and 6 tables
Modification of the Trotter and Gleser Female Stature Estimation Formulae
NCJ Number
140064
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 37 Issue: 5 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 1230-1235
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The formulae of Trotter and Gleser are the most widely used means of estimating stature; their formulae for females are based on Terry collection skeletons of people who died in the early 1900's.
Abstract