The present systematic review explores the most sexually dimorphic parameters by using geometric morphometric analysis of human skull. An extended search was conducted in Google Scholars and PubMed (published between 2005 and 2017). The main inclusion criteria were research articles published in English, and studies that used geometric morphometric analysis for classification of human skull. The literature search identified 54 potential relevant articles whereby, five had met the inclusion criteria. Most studies reported positive contribution of geometric morphometric as an alternative and accurate tool for classification of unknown human crania. Geometric morphometric method resulted in a high classification accuracy of sexual dimorphism among different populations. Further studies are required to approach the best method used for varied types of postcranial bones equipped with a more advanced meta-analysis of the results.

Introduction: Sex determination is vital for developing biolog-ical profile in skeletonized remains. Estimation of age, ancestry, and stature are dependent on sex determination. Various parts of cranial and postcranial elements were studied for sex dimor-phism in the literature. It is shown that the skeletal morpholo-gy in different sex was more pronounced in the adults than in the pre-pubertal period. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine sex in Malaysian adults by morphometric analysis of CT-scanned mandibles. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on 447 slices of scanned mandibles (894 differ-ent sides) in 244 males and 203 females. They comprised Malays (150), Chinese (137) and Indian (160) subjects within 18 to 87 years of age. Results: About ten parameters namely, perimeter and area of a triangle (formed by anterior ramus, coronion and mandibular notch) on the right and left side of mandible, and distances between anterior ramus and coronion, and between anterior ramus and mandibular notch and between coronion and mandibular notch (right and left sides of mandible) were an-alysed. By independent t-test, males were greater than females in all ten parameters (p<0.01). Paired t-test between different sides of the coronoid process showed greater values on the right than left (p<0.01). The discriminant function showed correct classification rate for 70% of cases, with identification accuracy of 75.8% for male and 63.1% for female. Conclusion: In brief, mandible is a sexually dimorphic bone useful for identification in forensic scenario. This is a pioneer study of the mandible in the Malaysians, which should be validated in future research.

Introduction: The mental foramen is present on either side of the body of the mandible bone. This foramen transmits mental vessels and nerves. In forensic anthropology, mental foramen may be important for differentiating sex, estimating age and identifying various races based on morphology. The main aim of the present study was to determine the position, shape and diameter of the mental foramen according to sex, age and race by postmortem computed tomography in the Malaysian population. Materials and Methods: A total of 79 dentulous patients (48 males, 31 females) from 3 age groups (18-30 years, 31-50 years, 51-74 years) were selected for this study, and ten parameters were observed for each mandible. The parameters were divided into two morphological and eight morphometric parameters. The morphometric parameters were measured by using Osirix MD Software 3D Volume Rendering. Results: Results showed that mandibular body length and height were significantly greater in males than in females by independent t-test. (p< 0.05). However, the mandibular body height was found to decrease significantly with age in both sexes by one-way Anova. It was observed that the shape of mental foramen was 45.6% oval and 54.4% rounded. About 44.3% of them were in line with the longitudinal axis of the second premolar tooth. Conclusion: It was concluded that mental foramen may be used for identification purposes, particularly for sex, age and race determination.

Objective: Sex estimation is one of the crucial steps for human identification, which is evident in cases of commingled, eroded, and/or missing remains. When pelvis or skull are unavailable, scapula has been used as an alternative bone for determining sex. Besides, the scapula was shown to be population-specific in several studies. Limited dry bone collections in Malaysia have led to various recommendations of virtual anthropology studies of bone in human identification. The aims of this study were to investigate the sexual dimorphism of the scapula using three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) imaging and to generate population-specific equations for sex determination in the Malaysian population. Methods: A total of 66 CT thorax images of 33 males and 33 females were taken. Morphological breadth (MB) and morphological length (ML) on bilateral scapulae were measured on 3D CT reconstructed images. Independent t-test and discriminant function analysis (DFA) were performed for analysis. Results: Results revealed that both parameters showed sexual dimorphism of scapula but displayed no difference between the right and left scapulae. DFA showed that MB and ML had high accuracy for sex estimation. The equations were highly accurate when both parameters were used in combination, followed by MB only and ML only, in that sequence. Conclusion: In brief, scapula measurements may be useful for forensic assessment of sex in the Malaysian population.

Background The Phenice method is a reliable qualitative analysis of the pubis and ischium region of the innominate bone to assess an individual’s sex. Geometric morphometric provides methods of quantitative analysis of the region for identification purposes, which may be affected by environmental changes. This study analysed the Phenice method by utilising 3D (3 dimensional) CT (computed tomography) scans by geometric morphometrics for sex estimation. The CT scans of 231 adult individuals (148 males and 83 females) of the Malaysian population were landmarked by IDAV Landmark software and analysed by MorphoJ and SPSS. Results The first four principal components (PCs) accounted for 41.9% of the total changes when utilising the Phenice method. Widening in pubic symphysis in a U shape with a general widening of the border of the true pelvis, which is typically seen in females, accounted for 21.8% of the eigenvalues. Conclusions It was possible to quantify the changes seen in the ventral arc, subpubic concavity and the medial aspect of the ischio-pubic ramus for sex estimation utilising the Phenice method, and most of the changes were seen in PC1 at the pubic region, which accounted for 21.8%.

Research in forensic anthropology is recent in Malaysia due to limited access to documented skeletal collections. However, advanced imaging techniques provide virtual bone samples for use in morphometric studies to establish population-specific standards by virtual anthropology. This study examined sexual dimorphism in the subpubic angle using a three-dimensional computed tomography model of the pelvis, in a contemporary Malaysian population. The sample comprised multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans of 50 male and 50 female adults. Segmentation of the MDCT scans was performed using 3D Slicer, and four landmarks were acquired using Stratovan Checkpoint for the subpubic angle measurement. The technical error of measurement (TEM), relative TEM, and coefficient of reliability (R) exhibited high reliability in measurements. Results showed that the subpubic angle in males was 68.6°±7.6° and in females 87.4°±6.5°. The subpubic angle in females was significantly larger than in males (P<0.001). Inverse correlation was found between the subpubic angle and age, in both males (r=−0.449, P<0.01) and females (r=−0.385, P<0.01). The overall accuracy of sex estimation using the subpubic angle was 94% (P<0.001). The subpubic angle, with a demarcating point of 78.6°, showed a sensitivity and specificity of 94% in the classification of female individuals. In conclusion, sex estimation using the subpu bic angle is highly accurate, with a high degree of expected sensitivity and specificity in the Malaysian population.

Abstract : Background The ears have increasingly been recognized as one of the supportive tools in forensics, based on the identifcation of landmark variations of ear biometrics in living persons. However, no studies on the reliability of such comparisons have been done on the deceased. Methods : The study aimed to investigate the correlation between ear biometrics and the age, sex, and stature of the deceased. The study was conducted on 181 deceased persons, aged between 18 and 70 years old on cases received by the Forensic Unit of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. Documentation of age, sex, race, and height was recorded, and photographs of bilateral ears were taken. Measurements of twelve ear biometrics based on the Iannarelli method and ear length and ear width were taken from the photographs. Results Results showed that there was a signifcant diference between males and females in six ear biometrics. There was also a signifcant correlation between ear biometrics, that is, ear length and ear width with the age and height of an individual. Conclusions In brief, there exists a signifcant diference between males and females in ear biometrics with good correlations between ear biometrics and the height and age of an individual. Hence, the ear can be used for personal identifcation in the forensic feld.