the femur of the australian aborigine
TRANSCRIPT
The Femur of the Australian Aborigine
V. DAVIVONGS Department of Anatomy, University of Adelaide, South Australia
Very few studies have been made upon the post-cranial skeletons of Australian aborigines. Turner (1886) made a study on skeletons of several ethnic groups col- lected during the voyage of H.M.S. Chal- lenger in 1873-1876. In his work, the Australian aboriginal skulls, pelvic girdles, femora and many other parts were in- cluded. However, the number of the abo- riginal skeletons was few: only six adult males, an adult female and a juvenile male were available at that time. Hepburn (1896) also employed the same collection for a study on the platymeric, pilastric and popliteal indices of the femur. Stirling (1896) in a report on the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia quoted Watson's data of the measurements of an aboriginal male skeleton obtained from Alice Springs. Many skeletal parts in- cluding the pelvic girdle, femur and tibia were examined. In '20, Wood examined and measured a large number of tibiae of Australian aborigines and more recently Ray ('59) made a detailed study of the aboriginal clavicles numbered up to 292.
Physical characters of Australian aborig- ines especially of the pelvis and lower limbs have been disclosed by the anthro- pological surveys done in many parts of Australia. Campbell, Gray and Hackett ('36) found that the lower limbs of the aborigines in Central Australia are long compared with the trunks and upper limbs. In comparison with European standards, the thighs and lower limbs are thin, the trunks are short and the pelves are narrow. Abbie ('51) describes that typical aborigi- nal males and females have narrow hips and long thin shanks. The trunks in adults are obviously short compared to the lower limbs; he found that relative sitting heights of four different groups: Yalata, Pintubi, Wailbri and Burera are well under 50% (Abbie, '61).
At present, a large number of Australian aboriginal skeletons have been collected at the South Australian Museum. These made the present study possible. The study of the aboriginal femur was done in com- pany with that of the pelvic girdle (V. Davivongs, to be published), humerus and shoulder girdle (R. van Dongen, to be published). The main purpose of this study is to provide an aboriginal standard for comparison with other ethnic groups. The other purpose is to disclose sex differences in the aboriginal femora and their useful- ness for sex determination.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The bones examined were 75 pairs of male and 55 pairs of female femora. Some of these bones belong to the Department of Anatomy, University of Adelaide but most are in the South Australian Museum. About 80% of skeletons came from South Australia and the rest from Northern Terri- tory, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. All of them are from adults but their ages and sexes had not been recorded. Preliminary determination of the sex was mainly based upon the pelvic girdle. Every complete girdle, i.e. a pair of innominate bones and a sacrum, was re-articulated for examining the sub- pubic angle which is helpful in sexing. The greater sciatic notch of each innomi- nate bone was also employed in this task. Whenever necessary, skulls were also ex- amined and incorrect determination of the sex would be assumed in very few cases. All of these femora were taken at random; only damaged bones and those with path- ological changes being excluded.
The methods of measurments are those described by Wilder ('20). Each linear
1 On WHO ('61) and Colombo Plan ( '62) Fellow- ships in Physical Anthropology from the Department of Anatomy, Siriraj Medical School. University of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand.
457
458 V. DAVIVONGS
measurement was recorded to the nearest millimeter. The following measurements were made.
Lengths 1. Maximum length (or absolute length). 2. Oblique length (or physiological
3. Trochanteric length.
Shaft dimensions 1. Subtrmhanteric region. Antero-pos-
terior and transverse diameters and the circumference taken at a level of about 3 cm distal to the lesser trochanter where the least antero-posterior diameter ob- tained.
2. Mid-shaft. Antero-posterior and trans- verse diameters and the circumference.
3. Supracondylar region. Antero-poste- rior and transverse diameters taken at a level of 4 cm proximal to the posterior limit of the articular surface of the femoral condyles.
Femoral head
length).
1. Vertical diameter. 2. Horizontal diameter (or transverse
3. Circumference. diameter).
Femoral condyles 1. Transverse condylar breadth (or
greatest medio-lateral breadth across the condyles).
Angles 1. Angle of the neck. 2. Angle of obliquity. 3. Angle of torsion.
Indices 1. Platymeric index =
x 100. a.-p. diam. at subtrochanteric region tran. diam. at subtrochanteric region
2. Pilastric index = a.-p. diam. at mid-shaft tran. diam. at mid-shaft x 100.
3. Shaft robusticity index =
x 100. a.-p. diam. + tran. dam. at mid-shaft oblique length
4. Popliteal index =
x 100. a.-p. diam. at supracondylar region tran. diam. at supracondylar region
5. Femoral head index =
x 100. vertical diam. of the head oblique length
~ _ _ _
6. Condylar breadth index =
x 100. tran. condylar breadth oblique length
RESULTS The measurements and indices of the
aboriginal male and female femora are listed in table 1.
Lengths The male femur as determined by the
three mean lengths is longer than the female femur. The discrepancy of the male and female means is 24.14 mm for the maximum length, 24.92 mm for the oblique length and 21.19 mm for the tro- chanteric length. The significance of sex difference of the means is high.
The difference between the mean maxi- mum and the mean oblique lengths in males is 3.60 mm and it is 4.38 mm in females. The difference is more marked in females which is due to the greater obliquity of the femoral shaft in this sex.
The mean oblique length of the femur on the right side is 444.04 mm in the aboriginal males and that on the left side is 444.23 mm. For the females, it is 419.18 mm on the right and 419.24 mm on the left. Therefore, in both sexes the left fe- mur is more frequently longer than the right one but the discrepancy is not great. According to Garson (1879), the inequality is not confined to any particular age, sex or race.
Shaft dimensions For the an-
tero-posterior and transverse diameters and the circumference measured at this level, the male means are greater. The sex differences of the means are highly significant.
The means of the platymeric index are not significantly different in the sexes. In males, the index ranges from 62.1 to 100.0; being platymeric 82% , eurymeric 16.7% and stenomeric 1.3%. In females, the platymeric index has a narrower range from 62.1 to 96.2; being platymeric 80%, eurymeric 20% and stenomeric 0%.
1. Subtrochanteric region.
TA
BL
E 1
Mea
SUT
emen
tS a
nd i
ndic
es o
f A
ustr
alia
n ab
orig
inal
fe
mor
a
Mal
e M
easu
rem
ents
an
d in
dice
s No.
Max
imum
leng
th
Obl
ique
leng
th
Tro
chan
teri
c 1.
Subt
roch
ante
ric r
egio
n A
.-p. d
iam
eter
T
ran.
dia
met
er
Cir
cum
fere
nce
Pla
tym
eric
inde
x
A.-p
. dia
met
er
Tra
n. d
iam
eter
C
ircu
mfe
renc
e P
ilast
ric
inde
x Sh
aft r
obus
tici
ty in
dex
A.-p
. dia
met
er
Tra
n. d
iam
eter
P
oplit
eal i
ndex
Ver
tica
l dia
m.
Hor
izon
tal d
iam
. C
ircu
mfe
renc
e F
emor
al h
ead
inde
x
Fem
oral
cond
yles
T
ran.
con
dyla
r bre
adth
C
ondy
lar b
read
th in
dex
Ang
le o
f th
e ne
ck
Ang
le o
f ob
liqui
ty
Ang
le o
f to
rsio
n
Mid
-sha
ft
Supr
acon
dyla
r reg
ion
Fem
oral
hea
d
Ang
les
150
150
149
150
150
150
150
149
149
149
149
149
149
149
149
150
150
150
150
148
148
150
150
149
Sign
ific
ance
of
sex
di
ffer
ence
of
mea
ns
Fem
ale R
ange
S
.D.
Mea
n R
ange
S.
D.
No.
M
ean
447.73
444.13
423.66
22.91
29.01
83.05
79.18
27.56
24.65
82.45
111.99
11.76
26.93
36.85
73.36
43.05
42.72
136.15
9.70
69.88
15.74
127.83"
9.01"
22.29"
405-502
405-498
385-478
18-29
24-34
72-95
62.1-100.0
21-37
21-29
70-105
84.6134.6
10.1-13.4
22-34
31-45
60.5-90.6
39-50
39-50
124-158
8.9-10.7
60-84
13.7-17.4
117"-142"
3"-13"
3O-43"
18.55
110
18.00
110
18.52
110
1.88
110
2.06
110
5.21
110
6.52
110
2.62
109
1.67
109
5.93
109
9.95
109
6.49
109
2.01
109
3.33
109
5.37
109
2.09
110
2.10
110
6.60
110
0.38
110
2.81
106
0.80
106
4.25
110
1.78
110
7.95
109
423.59
419.21
402.47
20.40
25.95
74.44
78.81
23.88
22.41
72.83
106.61
11.06
22.88
34.02
67.40
38.16
37.87
120.62
9.11
61.32
14.66
127.26"
9.96"
24.38"
378470
374470
358456
1625
23-29
64-85
62.1-96.2
18-30
61-84
9.1-12.7
19-26
86.4-131.6
19-28
2744
56.4-82.1
35-42
35-41
110-130
8.1-10.1
54-67
13.1-15.9
114"-139"
4"-15"
2"-50"
20.83
***
25.06
***
20.49
***
1.86
***
1.69
***
4.36
***
7.42
ns.
2.62
***
1.30
***
4.87
***
9.80
***
7.12
ns.
1.78
***
3.41
***
4.79
***
1.30
***
1.22
***
3.87
***
0.38
***
2.74
***
0.58
***
4.99
n.s.
2.19
***
8.91
n.s
.
AII
line
ar m
easu
rem
ents
in m
m.
S.D. =
stan
dard
dev
iati
on.
n.s
. = n
ot s
igni
fica
nt, (
P >
0.0
5).
*** =
sig
nifi
cant
, (P
< 0
.001 ).
TA
BL
E 2
Mea
sure
men
ts a
nd i
ndi
ces
of
mal
e fe
mor
a in
var
ious
eth
nic
gro
ups
Med
ieva
l Eng
lish
M
odem
Eng
lish
M
aori
A
inu
Japa
nese
A
ustr
alia
n ab
orig
ine
No.
M
ean
Ran
ge
No.
M
ean
Ran
ge
No.
M
ean
No.
M
ean
No.
M
ean
No.
M
ean
Ran
ge
Sch
ofie
ld (
'59
) K
ogan
ei
Kog
anei
P
rese
nt s
erie
s M
easu
rem
ents
P
arso
n ('
14
) H
oltb
y ('18)
and
indi
ces
Max
imum
leng
th
174
Obl
ique
leng
th
177
Sub
troc
hant
eric
regi
on
A.-p
. dia
met
er
Tra
n. d
iam
eter
Pl
atym
eric
inde
x
Mid
-sha
ft
A.-p
. dia
met
er
Tra
n. d
iam
eter
Pi
last
ric
inde
x S
haft
tobu
stic
ity
inde
x
Hea
d di
amet
er
Tra
n. c
ondy
lar
br.
Ang
le o
f th
e ne
ck
Ang
le o
f ob
liqui
ty
Ang
le o
f to
rsio
n
185
185
185
184
184
184
176
174
160
183
168
167
~
458.3
454.7
28.1
35.6
79.3
31.6
29.6
108.0
13.6
49.0
76.2
126.4"
9.0"
+ 13.0"
409-543
404-538
23-38
30-45
59-100
26-40
24-35
85.7-148.0
1 I .3-15.5
45-55
65-87
112"-140"
4"-17"
- 13
"-+40"
All
line
ar m
easu
rem
ents
in m
m.
56 457.4
404-523
43 445.0
44 407.7
20 408.8
150
447.73
405502
150
444.13
405-498
56 454.3
403-521
43 441.3
- -
--
_-
-
43
22.43
47
23.8
20
22.7
150
22.91
18-29
_-
-
43
34.51
47
32.3
20
29.7
150
29.01
24-34
56
83.5 69.4-100.0
43
65.22
47
73.7
20
76.4
150
79.18
62.1-100.0
__
-
43
29.48
46
27.8
20
25.0
149
27.56
21-37
_-
-
43
25.33
46
26.6
20
24.6
149
24.65
21-29
56 108.4
93.3-128.5
43 116.67
46 104.5
20 101.6
149
111.99
84.6-134.6
--
-
43
12.42
- -
__ -
149
11.76
10.1-13.4
56
49.0
43-57
39
46.26
- -
_-
150
43.05
39-50
56
76.8
71-85
_-
_
_ -
- 148
69.88
60-84
--
-
43 136.26" - -
_-
150
127.83"
117"-142"
__
-
43
9.26"
- -
_-
150
9.01"
3"-13"
149
22.29"
3O-43'
_-
-
43
25.35" - -
--
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL FEMUR 461
2. Mid-shaft. As seen from the mean diameters and circumference taken at this level, the male femur has greater dimen- sions. The mean pilastric index is also obviously greater in males. This is mainly due to the increased antero-posterior diam- eter at the mid-shaft in this sex. It was observed that the linea aspera was also more pronounced in males and many of them showed the so-called pilaster. The mean of the shaft robusticity index in females is slightly smaller than in males but the sex difference of the means is not significant .
3. Supracondylar region. At this region the two mean diameters and the mean popliteal index are greater in males and the sex differences of the means are highly significant. The findings indicate that the flattening of the shaft at this region is more marked in females.
Femoral head The size of the femoral head as deter-
mined by the mean vertical and horizontal diameters and by the mean circumference is generally greater in males than in fe- males. The sex differences of the means are highly significant. In both sexes, the mean vertical diameter is slightly greater than the mean horizontal diameter. An- other important finding in these three measurements is a markedly small over- lap of the male and female ranges. This indicates a great value for sex determina- tion as previously shown by Dwight ('05). It will be discussed later. The femoral head index also shows the sex difference of the means; the male is greater. Un- fortunately, the overlap between the male and female ranges of this index is rather wide. So, it is a poor sex determinant.
Femoral condyles The mean of the transverse condylar
breadth in females is smaller than in males and the female range is also much narrower. The condylar breadth index in males is greater than in females on aver- age. The transverse condylar breadth series shows a small overlap between the male and female ranges and it can be used as a n indicator of the sex.
Angles The measurements of the angle of the
neck and the angle of torsion indicate that there are no significant sex differences be- tween the means. The angle of torsion in the aboriginal femora shows a very wide range of variation in both sexes. On the other hand, it is obvious that the female mean of the angle of obliquity is greater than that of the male. The more obliquity of the femoral shaft in females is probably caused by the wider pelvis and shorter femur in this sex.
DISCUSSION
I . Ethnic comparisons of the femur Some data from previous works on the
femur (Parsons, '14; Holtby, '18; Koganei, quoted by Pearson and Bell, '19; and Schofield, '59) are available for comparing with the present aboriginal series. These data (tables 2 and 3) were selected from works with the same technique of meas- urements applied and sufficient numbers of bones examined.
The mean maximum and oblique lengths disclose that the male aboriginal femur is shorter than the medieval and modern English femora but slightly longer than the Maori and much longer than the Ainu and Japanese. In the female series, the result is somewhat different; the mean lengths of the female aboriginal femora are longer than every group listed in table 3.
In both sexes, the mean diameters of the shaft at the levels of subtrochanteric region and mid-shaft of the aboriginal femora are smaller than those of the medieval English, Maori and Ainu but slightly greater than the Japanese. The sizes of the femoral head and condyles in the Australian aborigine are much smaller than those of the medieval and modern English.
According to the mean platymeric index, the present aboriginal femora and those of all other groups of both sexes are mostly platymeric. Platymeria is even more pro- nounced in the Maori, Ainu and Japanese femora than the aboriginal bones. Platy- meria is, therefore, not a special character of the Australian aboriginal femur. Abbie
TA
BL
E 3
Mea
sure
men
ts a
nd i
ndic
es o
f fe
mal
e fe
mor
a in
var
ious
eth
nic
grou
ps
Med
ieva
l Eng
lish
M
odem
Eng
lish
M
aori
A
inu
Japa
nese
A
ustr
alia
n ab
qrig
ine
Pre
sent
sen
es
Mea
sure
men
ts
Par
son
('14
) H
oltb
y ('
18)
Scho
fiel
d ('
59)
Koc
anei
K
ogan
ei
and
indi
ces
No.
M
ean
Ran
ge
No.
M
ean
Ran
ge
No.
M
ean
No.
M
ean
No.
M
ean
No.
M
ean
Ran
ge
Max
imum
leng
th
102
Obl
ique
leng
th
103
Subt
roch
ante
ric r
egio
n A
.-p. d
iam
eter
105
Tra
n. d
iam
eter
105
Pla
tym
eric
inde
x 105
Mid
-sha
ft
A.-
p. d
iam
eter
108
Tra
n. d
iam
eter
108
Pila
stri
c in
dex
108
Shaf
t rob
usti
city
in
dex
104
Hea
d di
amet
er
103
Tra
n. co
ndyl
ar b
r.
88
Ang
le o
f th
e ne
ck
105
Ang
le o
f ob
liqui
ty
98
Ang
le o
f to
rsio
n 99
418.9
416.5
25.5
32.5
78.5
28.0
26.5
104.1
13.1
42.5
67.5
125.5"
10.5"
+ 17.0'
358-477
356471
21-29
27-39
61-98
23-33
21-31
80.0-125.0
10.615.0
3648
63-75
114"-134"
2"-17"
- 12"-+34"
44 415.1
362464
33 419.8
25 382.2
20 379.8
110
423.59
378470
110
419.21
374470
44 412.6
358461
33 414.9
- -
_-
_-
-
33
20.06
26
21.3
20
19.0
110
20.40
1625
-_
-
33
32.19
26
30.8
20
25.7
110
25.95
23-29
44
81.6 65.7-100.0
33
62.37
26
69.2
20
73.9
110
78.81
62.1-96.2
--
-
33
26.11
26
24.7 20
21.5
109
23.88
18-30
_-
-
33
23.14
26
24.4
20
21.8
109
22.41
19-26
44 108.2
87.5-128.0
33 112.97
26 101.2
20
98.6
109
106.61
86.4-131.6
_-
-
33
11.87
- -
_-
109
11.06
9.1-12.7
44
41.7
37-46
32
41.41
- -
-_
110
38.16
35-42
_-
106
61.32
54-67
-_
-
-
44
67.5
60-74
--
_
33 137.61"
- -
_-
110
127.26"
114"-139"
-
33
10.24" - -
_-
110
9.96"
4"-15"
--
_-
-
32
28.56" - -
--
109
24.38"
2"-50"
-~
All
line
ar m
easu
rem
ents
in
mm
.
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL FEMUR 463
('51) states that the occurrence of platy- meria and platycnemia and a correspond- ing narrowing of the humerus are now known to hold no ethnological significance, being probably of nutritional origin (Bux- ton, '38). The greater mean platymeric index of the modern English femora as compared with that of the medieval Eng- lish seems to support this theory.
The mean pilastric index of the aborigi- nal femora of both sexes exceeds that of the Ainu and Japanese but is comparable with the medieval and modern English. However, the greatest mean was recorded in the Maori. The pilaster or prismatic form of the femoral shaft was observed in some aboriginal bones especially in males. It is, however, not unique to this group because it was also found in the femora from Cro-Magnon, New Caledonia, Andaman Islands and many other places (Turner, 1886).
It appears that the shafts of the aborigi- nal femora are more slender than those of the English. In this case, the shaft robusticity index would reveal the differ- ence. The detailed data of the medieval English femora are available for compari- son in this regard. In males (table 2), the mean of the shaft robusticity index is 13.6 for the medieval English and 11.76 for the Australian aborigines. Also in females (table 3), the mean index is 13.1 for the English femora and only 11.06 for the aboriginal femora. The difference between the means of these two groups is great in both sexes. For the male series, the over- lap between the ranges of the English and the aboriginal femora by this index is 64.0%. The overlap in the female series is 60.1 % . It means that nearly 40% of male and female bones of both groups can
be discriminated from each other by using the shaft robusticity index alone.
The sizes of the femoral head and con- dyles as respectively determined by the mean head diameters and the mean trans- verse condylar breadth are large in the medieval and modern English femora and small in the Maori and the Australian aboriginal bones. These are in harmony with the size of the shaft.
The means and ranges of variation of the angle of femoral neck in the medieval English and Australian aborigine of both sexes are quite comparable. This mean angle is more obtuse in the Maori femora taken by Schofield ('59). It has been shown that there is no significant sex dif- ference between the means of this angle in the aboriginal series. Parsons also points out that the angle is of no value as an indicator of the sex.
The means for the angle of obliquity of the medieval English, Maori and Aus- tralian aboriginal femora are entirely in the same order. In every group, the mean is approximately 9" in males and 10" in females.
On the average, the angle of torsion of the aboriginal femora is greater than that of the medieval English but smaller than in the Maori. The range of variation of this angle is extraordinarily wide in every group and in both sexes. It should be noted that only positive angles were re- corded in the aboriginal series. Schofield also found no negative torsional angle in the Maori series. On the other hand, Parsons recorded some few negative angles in the medieval English femora. Pick et al. ('41) also found negative angles of torsion in American femora; the range being from -18" to +41" with a mean of +14.01".
TABLE 4 Important measurements of the femur for sex determination
Definitely female Measurements Definitely Overlap Groups in mm male
3942 < 39 122-130 < 122
Transverse condylar breadth > 67 60-67 < 60 Medieval English Femoral head diameter > 48 45-48 < 45
(Parsons, '14) Transverse condylar breadth > 75 65-75 < 65 43-46 < 43 71-74 < 71 Modern English Femoral head diameter > 46
(Holtby, '18) Transverse condylar breadth > 74
Australian aborigine Femoral head diameter > 42 (Present series ) Femoral head circumference > 130
464 V. DAVIVONGS
2. Sex determination by the femur As can be seen in table 1, most of the
means of measurements and indices of the femur show significant sex differences. Only four of them: the platymeric index, the shaft robusticity index, the angle of the neck and the angle of torsion, betray no difference of the means. Those which show a high degree of significance and have a small overlapping range between the sexes are selected for appraisal in sex determination; they are :
1. The diameters of the femoral head. 2. The circumference of the femoral
head. 3. The transverse condylar breadth. The evaluation can be carried out by
the application of histograms showing fre- quency distributions in the male and fe- male series and the percentage of overlap between both series will be ascertained. The value for sex determination of any measurement varies inversely with the
Number of
percentage of overlap; that is, when the percentage is small the value is high and vice versa.
From the histograms of the vertical diameter of the head (fig. l ) , the overlap is originally 41% ; that means there are 107 bones from the total of 260 in the overlapping range. This rather high per- centage of overlap is due to a few aberrant bones. After removal of two male bones of 39 mm, two female bones of 42 mm and a female bone of 41 mm in the diameter, the number of bones in the overlapping area drops to 24 or only 9 % . By the hori- zontal diameter of the head, a similar re- sult was obtained. The result in the abo- riginal series is much better than that of American femora taken by Dwight ('05). In that series, he found the original over- lap to be 78.25% and after removal of six male and three female bones (2.25% ), the overlap was 28.90%.
The femoral head circumference gave a better result than the head diameters.
35 36 37 38 39 4 0 41 4 2 4 5 44 45 46
=Male
47 48 49 5OIWl.
VERTICAL DIAMETER OF FEMORAL HEAD
Fig. 1 Distribution of vertical diameter of femoral head.
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL FEMUR 465
Nu
3
I
1
110-112 116-118 ITZ-IH 128430 I34436 140-142 l46-140 152-154 IS8460 Il3-II5 119-I21 125427 131-lSJ 137439 UP143 149-151 155-157m*
CIRCUMFERENCE OF FEMORAL HEAD
Fig. 2 Distribution of circumference of femoral head.
The original overlap (fig. 2) is only 29% or 76 bones in the overlapping range. After removing two scattered male bones of 122-124 mm and four female bones of 128-130 mm in the circumference, the overlap decreases to 6.5% that means only 17 bones still remain in the overlapping part.
By the transverse condylar breadth (fig. 3) , the original percentage of overlap is 46.5 or 118 bones from the total of 254 cannot be differentiated. The percentage decreases to 23.6 when four male bones of 60-63 mm in the breadth are excluded. This measurement is then valuable for sex determination especially in the case of damaged femoral head.
Table 4 is presented for the purpose of determining sex. It contains the absolute male and female ranges and the over- lapping or dubious portions of the femoral head diameters and the transverse condy- lar breadths in the Australian aborigine,
the medieval and modern English; and also of the circumference of the femoral head in the Australian aborigine. It is clear that the English femora have larger femoral heads and distal ends. Hence the English standards cannot be used for sex- ing the aboriginal femora.
The dimensions of the femoral shaft taken at every level cannot be used as a sex indicator because the overlaps between the male and female ranges are very wide. The length of any long bone has been known as a very poor sex indicator and there is no exception for the femoral lengths. For the maximum length of the femur, the overlap of the male and female ranges is as much as 91% which is very high percentage. The femoral head index, the condylar breadth index and all angu- lar measurements have been also proved to be poor sex determinants. The overlaps for the femoral head and condylar breadth indices are 85 and 74% respectively.
466 V. DAVIVONGS
Number o f Femora
30 k
20
10
-Female
54-55 58-59 62-63 66-67 70-11 74-75 7&7? 82-83 56-57 60-61 64)-65 66-69 72-73 76-77 00-81 84-85
TRANSVERSE CONDYLAR BREADTH
Fig. 3 Distribution of transverse condylar breadth.
SUMMARY
1. This paper records the metrical char- acters of Australian aboriginal femora; 75 pairs of the male and 55 pairs of the female. About 80% of the bones were found in South Australia; there are no records of their ages and sexes. The find- ings were compared with those of other ethnic groups. The sex differences of the bones and their value for sex determina- tion were also discussed.
2. The aboriginal femora differ from the medieval English femora by the more gracility of the shafts, and smaller heads and condyles. With regard to this, the dif- ference of the shaft robusticity index be- tween these two series enables us to dis- criminate about 40% of the bones of both groups from each other.
3. The angle of torsion in the Maori and the Australian aborigine is on the average greater than that of the English bones. However, this angle in discrimination of
groups yields unsatisfactory results com- pared with the shaft robusticity index.
4. With the exception of those two fea- tures, the aboriginal femora surveyed in this work do not show any marked differ- ences from those of other groups when the means and ranges of variation are taken into account.
5. The sex differences of the femur are much greater than those ethnic differ- ences. The sex differences, especially in the sizes of the femoral head and distal end, are very obvious in the Australian aboriginal femora and they can be used effectively as sex determinants.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am greatly indebted to Professor A. A. Abbie for his valuable advice and helpful criticism of this work. I am very grateful to Mr. N. B. Tindale, Curator of Anthropol- ogy of the South Australian Museum for his kind permission to examine the mate-
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL FEMUR 467
rial. Grateful thanks are also due to Mr. P. D. Kempster for providing certain in- struments.
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