Human vs Nonhuman

Question 1

animal bones

Answer 1

• Thick cortical bone (outer layer)
• Sharp transition between cortical and cancellous
• Dense w/ thin cavity in the middle
• Plexiform bone and Haversian bone

Question 2

human bones

Answer 2

• Thinner cortical
• Poor boundary between cortical and cancellous
• NO plexiform ever, have Haversian

Question 3

plexiform

Answer 3

horizontal, brick-like structure, non-human, rectangular, cannot complete maintenance repairs but can repair a fracture, harder to damage

Question 4

Haversian system

Answer 4

irregular circles, human and non-human, usually in creatures who live long and need to make many repairs

Question 5

how do you tell the difference between child bones and small animal bones?

Answer 5

• To tell between small animal bones and childrens bones: assess maturity, fusing of the bone ends
• Juvenile humans have unfused epiphyses, adult mammals have fused epiphyses

Question 6

what percentage of cases are brought into forensic anthropologists that are not human bones?

Answer 6

25-30%

Question 7

what should you consider when trying to determine what a bone is?

Answer 7

Structure/histology, maturity (development), and architecture (morphology)

Question 8

child vs animal bones

Answer 8

To tell between small animal bones and childrens bones: assess maturity, fusing of the bone ends
Juvenile humans have unfused epiphyses, adult mammals have fused epiphyses

Question 9

biped

Answer 9

only humans, bones specialized for bipedal stance

Question 10

quadruped

Answer 10

most mammals, all share similar architecture for 4 legged stance

Question 11

human vertebrae

Answer 11

increase in size from cranial to caudal, short spinous processes, 3 curves in back (have 3rd curve in lower back)

Question 12

non-human vertebrae

Answer 12

stays the same size, long spinous processes, 2 curves (in neck and ribcage)

Question 13

human ribs

Answer 13

curved, flat ribs

Question 14

nonhuman ribs

Answer 14

straight and round

Question 15

human pelvis

Answer 15

bowl-shaped, curved and short ilia

Question 16

nonhuman pelvis

Answer 16

longer, narrower pelvis and blade-like ilia

Question 17

what extra bones are not found in humans

Answer 17

baculum, caudal vertebrae, Furcula and coracoid, metapodia, unfused eye orbits, Defined Midfacial Prognathism

Question 18

human hand vs bear paw

Answer 18

look very similar but the human hand bone is rounded off at the top because of nails and the bear paw has indentations where claws would have been

Question 19

human skull fragments vs turtle shell fragments

Answer 19

look very similar but turtle shell fragments are thicker and more dense