Sexually dimorphic mandibular morphology in the first few years of life

Sex differences in the youngest skeletons are very subtle, and any method that can separate males and females significantly better than chance will be of value. Compounding the problem is a paucity of immature skeletons of documented age and sex. In 1992, S.R.L. examined 62 juvenile mandibles of white and black South Africans of known age and sex (from birth to 19 years) from the Dart Collection to determine if the sexes could be differentiated by morphologic traits. By age 6 years, adult chin shapes were already recognizable. Prior to that age, differences were observed in the shape of the inferior border of the symphysis and outline of the body. The male chin base extends steeply downward relative to the adjacent body, coming to a point or squaring off at the symphysis. In females, the symphysis descends gradually to a more rounded base, and even when pointed, the transition is not abrupt. On the outer border of the corpus, the sides diverge sharply to form a \_/ shape from a roughly horizontal anterior region in males, while the female contour is rounded, reflecting the smoothly curved transition from front to sides. These traits were manifest from the eruption of the central incisors until about 4 years of age. The features were tested on all 19 Dart Collection mandibles in that age range. Average accuracy for three different testers was 81%, and males were consistently identified more accurately than females. This new method was then tested on a known sex sample of 11 individuals from 0 to 7 years of age. These included CT scans of 9 French children and the remains of 2 South African black forensic cases. Sexing accuracy was 82% (9/11). The only two mis-sexed cases were both female and over age 6 years. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that it is possible to determine the sex of very young mandibles. The new sexually dimorphic morphologic configurations introduced here have demonstrated repeatable discrimination with the highest level of accuracy (81%) reported and tested for this age group. Preliminary research indicates that both the male and female shapes are clearly recognizable in archaeologic and premodern hominids as well as chimpanzees. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.