ANTHROP 3FA3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Pubic Arch, Pelvic Inlet, Secondary Sex Characteristic
14 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
The differences between male and female are primarily related to size and architecture which result from different biomechanical functions of joints for efficiency in locomotion (movement) and parturition (childbirth) Many other analyses such as stature and age estimation are age specific, making sex estimation an important part of the biological profile, especially in the preliminary stages of an investigation. The ability to differentiate between male and female skeletons is due to sexual dimorphism, or the expression of phenotypic differences between males and females of the same species. Sexual dimorphism usually relates primarily to differences in morphology (size and shape), but also to differences in physiology and behaviour. In comparison to other animals, humans display relatively little sexual dimorphism; however there has been a reduction of sexual dimorphism over the course of hominin evolution. Sexual dimorphism is also not uniform across all human populations, with some groups being more sexually dimorphic than others.
