A Quantitative Assessment of the Morphology of the Piriform Aperture as an Indicator of Race

Seth Gardner

Department of Natural and Social Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Huron, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/fmar.2015.31002                

Abstract

Piriform apertures from skulls in the Bass Collection at the University of Tennessee were examined. The morphology of the perform aperture from digital images was captured using Adobe Measuring Tool 9.0 and data analyzed with SPSS 17.0. Twenty-four linear measurements from a central point of the aperture as well as the perimeter were evaluated to quantify a difference between Black and White populations. The statistical analyses employed Discriminate Functional Analysis followed by Stepwise analysis. Discriminate functions were generated to predict to which group a skull belonged. A discriminate function produced an accuracy of 77.4%. Step-wise discriminate function analysis, using only three variables, produced an accuracy of 79.0%.

Keywords

Forensic Science, Forensic Anthropology, Perform Aperture, Angular Morphometrics, Anthropometrics, Skull

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Moraitis, K., Eliopoulos, C., Spiliopoulou, C. and Manolis, S. (2009) Assessment of Ancestral Background from the Skull: Case Studies from Greece. The Internet Journal of Biological Anthropology, 3, 2.
[2]	Bass, W. (1995) Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual. 4th Edition, Missouri Archaeological Society, Columbia.
[3]	Howells, W. (1970) Multivariate Analysis for the Identification of Race from the Crania. In: Stewart, T.D., Ed., Personal Identification in Mass Disasters, District of Columbia National Museum of Natural History, 11-121.
[4]	Rhine, S. (1993) Skeletal Criteria for Racial Attribution. National Association for the Practice of Anthropology Bulletin, 13, 54-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/napa.1993.13.1.54
[5]	Gill, G. (1986) Craniofacial Criteria in Forensic Race Identification. In: Thomas, C.C., Ed., Forensic Osteology, Springfield, 145-159.
[6]	Reichs, K. (1998) Forensic Osteology. Chas. Thomas Publishers, Springfield.
[7]	Hwang, T., Song, J., Yoon, H., Cho, B.P. and Kang, H.S. (2005) Morphometrics of the Nasal Bones and Piriform Apertures in Koreans. Annals of Anatomy—Anatomischer Anzeiger, 187, 411-414. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aanat.2005.04.009
[8]	Schmittbuhl, M., Le Minor, J.M., Allenbach, B. and Schaaf, A. (1998) Shape of the Piriform Aperture in Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, and Modern Homo sapiens: Characterization and Polymorphism Analysis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 106, 297-310. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199807)106:3<297::AID-AJPA3>3.0.CO;2-K
[9]	Robinson, A. (1931) Cunningham’s Textbook of Anatomy. Oxford University Press, New York.
[10]	Bass, W. (2005) Human Osteology. Academic Press, San Diego.
[11]	Adams, B.J. and Byrd, J.E. (2002) Inter-Observer Variation of Selected Postcranial Skeletal Remains. Journal of Forensic Science, 47, 1193-1202.
[12]	Holton, N. and Franciscus, R.G. (2008) The Paradox of a Wide-Nasal Aperture in Cold Adapted Neanderthals: A Causal Assessment. Journal of Human Evolution, 55, 942-951. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.07.001
[13]	Topinard, P. and Broca, P. (1890) Anthropology. Chapman and Hall, London.
[14]	Green, S.B. and Salkind, N.J. (2007) Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh: Analyzing and Understanding Data. 5th Edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
[15]	Bland, J.M. and Altman, D.G. (1990) A Note on the Use of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient in the Evaluation of Agreement between Two Methods of Measurements. Computer Medicine Journal, 20, 337-340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0010-4825(90)90013-F
[16]	Zhang, X.T., Wang, S.K., Zhang, W. and Wang, X.F. (1990) Measurement and Study of the Nose and Face and Their Correlations in the Young Adult of Han Nationality. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 85, 532-536. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00006534-199004000-00007
[17]	Xu, B., Wang, Y., Ma, J., Li, M. and Xu, L. (2011) A Computer-Aid Study on the Craniofacial Features of Archang Race in Yunnan Province of China. West China Journal of Stomatology, 19, 394-396.
[18]	Oladipo, G.S., Olabiyi, A.O., Oremosu, A.A. and Noronha, C.C. (2007) Nasal Indices among Major Ethnic Groups in Southern Nigeria. Scientific Research and Essay, 2, 20-22.
[19]	Krishan, K. (2008) Estimation of Stature from Cephalo-Facial Anthropometry in North Indian Population. Forensic Science International, 181, 52e1-52e6.