Estimating Sex Flashcards

1
Q

What is sex based on?

A

chromosomes and sex hormone proportions

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1
Q

What is gender based on?

A

socially prescribed and perceived identities

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2
Q

Can you estimate gender from a skeleton?

A

No!

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3
Q

Sexual Dimorphism

A

physical differences between the sexes of different species

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4
Q

How can we estimate biological sex from the skeleton?

A

size and shape differences

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5
Q

Broadly, what do female bones usually look like?

A

smaller and more rounded

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6
Q

Broadly, what do male bones usually look like?

A

larger and more robust

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7
Q

Can you estimate sex from juvenile remains?

A

No! (sexual dimorphism starts around puberty)

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8
Q

Human variation ___.

A

is not discrete (happens on a scale)

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9
Q

Increased disease in a population leads to ___ dimorphism in a population.

A

decreased

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10
Q

How accurate is using the skull and pelvis together for estimation? `

A

90-100%

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11
Q

How accurate is using the pelvis alone for estimation?

A

90-95%

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12
Q

How accurate is using the skull along for estimation?

A

70-87%

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13
Q

How accurate is using long bones alone for estimation?

A

~80%

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14
Q

Why is the pelvis so good for estimating sex?

A

its under two very important evolutionary constraints that limit variation (walking & childbirth)

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15
Q

Why do bones belonging to males have more muscle attachments?

A

Increased testosterone = increased muscle = increased weight = increased muscle attachments

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16
Q

Male v. Female: Pelvis Inlet & Outlet

A

male: heart-shaped inlet (more closed in), female: circular & oval-shaped

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17
Q

Male v. Female: Pelvis Blades

A

male: high and vertical, female: low and wide

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18
Q

Male v. Female: Sacrum

A

male: long and narrow (tucks in more), female: short and wide (less curvature)

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19
Q

What is Phenice’s Method?

A

the most well known method for sex estimation

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20
Q

What traits is Phenice’s Method based on?

A

ventral arc, subpubic concavity, and ishiopubic ramus

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21
Q

Male v. Female: Ventral Arc

A

male: triangular, female: little corner (more square)

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21
Q

Male v. Female: Subpubic Concavity

A

male: straight, female: concave

22
Q

Male v. Female: Ischiopubic ramus

A

male: wide and dull, female: narrow and pinched

23
Q

What is the scoring for phenice’s method?

A

1 (female, 2 (indeterminate), 3 (male)

24
Q

What is the significance of the additions by Bulkstra and Ubelaker?

A

they were included in the 1994 “Standard for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains” which was made due to the passing of the NAGRA act

25
Q

What two additional traits did Bulkstra and Ubelaker add?

A

Sciatic notch and Preauricular sulcus

26
Q

Male v. Female: Sciatic notch

A

Male: narrow
Female: wide

27
Q

Male v. Female: Preauricular sulcus

A

Male: no sulcus
Female: well-developed sulcus

28
Q

What are three other traits to look out for?

A

pubic shape, subpubic angle, and obturator foramen

29
Q

Male v. Female: Pubic shape

A

male: triangular, female: rectangular

30
Q

Male v. Female: Subpubic angle

A

male: v-shaped, female: u-shaped

31
Q

What is the name of the attempt to use metrics to estimate sex?

A

the ischiopubric index

32
Q

What does the ischiopubric index measure?

A

the length of the pubris / the length of the ischium

33
Q

Why is the ischiopubric index difficult to work with?

A

it is very difficult to find the correct and accurate measurement point as the os coxae is very weird and has no consistent landmarks

34
Q

On average, individuals with a higher ischiopubric percentage are …

A

female

35
Q

What are shape differences btwn the sexes in the cranium due too?

A

size differences

36
Q

True or False: Some methods for estimating sex work better for specific populations than others

A

TRUE

37
Q

Male v. Female: nuchal crest

A

male: rugged & hooked, female: small to none

38
Q

Male v. Female: mastoid process

A

male: large & projecting, female: small & non-projecting

39
Q

Male v. Female: supraorbital margin

A

male: rounded, female: sharp

40
Q

Male v. Female: glabella

A

male: large, female: small

41
Q

Male v. Female: mental eminence

A

male: massive & well-defined, female: minimal

42
Q

Significance of Giles and Elliot’s method?

A

used discriminant functions to determine sex based on metric methods

43
Q

What is the sectioning point?

A

the metric point that differentiates between females and males when using discriminant/regression functions

44
Q

What are the 4 steps for using Giles and Elliots method?

A
  1. Select appropriate function
  2. Measurement x coefficient
  3. Add resulting values
  4. Compare to sectioning point
45
Q

True or False: Methods using multiple postcranial measurements can be more accurate than cranial methods.

A

TRUE

46
Q

What is best practice when it comes to using cranial and postcranial methods?

A

use different methods in different regions of the body to see if they align

47
Q

What are the important measurements from the scapula?

A

scapular max length & height of glenoid fossa

48
Q

What are the important measurements from the humerus?

A

vertical head diameter

49
Q

What are the important measurements from the radius?

A

maximum head diameter & minimum head diameter

50
Q

What are the important measurements from the femur?

A

head diameter

51
Q

Why is the Terry Collection not great for estimating sex?

A

the collection is old and does not include Latinx individuals

52
Q

What are the contributions of Spradley et al?

A

found many postcranial methods used do not work well for Hispanic populations (2008), created new equations for sex estimation of Hispanic populations using postcranial measurements (2015)

53
Q

Why does ancestry play such a big role in estimating sex?

A

different bones are different depending on population

54
Q

What are the two spreadsheets used for morphoscopic trait sex estimation?

A

Klales et al (pelvis) and Walker (skull)