The Three Factors Experts Consider to Determine If a Skeleton Is Male or Female

One of the challenges that come with forensics, especially when old remains are involved, is determining the sex. This is tough because, at a glance, it is impossible to tell whether the skeleton is male or female since the identifying physical features such as secondary sexual characteristics, teeth, and others will have decomposed. However, there are three main tests that are used by forensics experts to determine whether the skeleton they came across belongs to a male or a female.

The rate of development

When males and females of the human species are born, they contain some amount of cartilage in their bone structure. As they mature, the cartilage will be replaced with bone tissue. However, the rate of replacement in female species is faster than in males. This means that mostly, the female bone structure will look mature earlier than that of men. Scientists state that female bones complete their development by the age of 18 while male bones mature by 21 or later. When identifying remains, the maturity of the bones could give a clue as to whether the owner was a male or a female.

The structure of the pelvis

This is the primary factor used to differentiate between the male and female skeletons. The female skeleton matures in preparation for childbirth. This means that the female pelvic bones are shorter and more rounded than the surrounding bones such as the tailbone and the hip bone. The structure of the bones is meant to be flexible enough to accommodate the growing uterus during gestation and also to open up and allow the passage of a foetus during birth. By looking at the structure of the pelvis and the pelvic bones, experts can tell if a skeleton is male or female.

The structure of the skull

The male's jawbone is larger and more pronounced than the female's. In males, the brow is taller than that of the female skeleton, and male skeletons also have longer and thicker bones in the arms, legs, and fingers.

These are the few factors which the experts use in determining whether the remains they have found belong to a male or a female member of the human species. These skeletal identification tests are critical when creating a due diligence report because you will have limited forensic material to use, but you will be needed to make significant and conclusive reports based on it.