NCJ Number
224712
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 53 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 1044-1048
Date Published
September 2008
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Although it has been well documented that the intact femur has the highest correlation with stature, in order to determine whether stature could be estimated from fragments of the femur, this study measured 6 variables on intact femurs from a sample of 50 male and 50 female complete skeletons from a collection of South Africans of European descent (Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons).
Abstract
Regression equations were derived for estimation of stature and maximum length of the femur from measurements of the femur variables (vertical neck diameter, upper breadth of femur, epicondylar breadth, bicondylar breadth, lateral condyle length, and medial condyle length). The regression equations for females were more accurate than those for males. Although the range of standard error of stature estimates for the equations based on the bone fragment variables was slightly higher than those obtained for intact long bones, this report concludes that in the absence of an intact femur, regression equations derived from the current study can provide a reasonable estimate of adult stature. The results are more accurate than those obtained from other skeletal elements, such as metatarsals, metacarpals, intact calcareous, and fragments of tibia. 7 tables and 31 references