Voyaging into the third dimension: A perspective on virtual methods and their application to studies of juvenile sex estimation and the ontogeny of sexual dimorphism

The accurate estimation of sex from skeletal remains is an essential step in reconstructing the biological profile of an individual. In estimating the sex of an individual, a morphological method is often favoured over the use of molecular methods due to the cost and time involved with DNA extraction and amplification, along with concerns over the potential for degradation and contamination of DNA in archaeological material [1,2]. In contrast to the well-established and highly accurate morphological methods available for sexing adult skeletons [3 –6], juvenile sex estimation is widely recognised as a difficult task that faces a series of challenges [7–9].
Source: Forensic Science International - Category: Forensic Medicine Authors: Tags: Review Article Source Type: research