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To: Renfield
Only a shin bone and two teeth

It's been many many, moons since Old Ben studied Anthropology but -- I don't think gender can be determined from just those remains.

6 posted on 10/05/2007 5:52:19 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin
It's been many many, moons since Old Ben studied Anthropology but -- I don't think gender can be determined from just those remains.

Gender can be inferred from the size of bones.

But even with complete skeletons, sex estimates won't be 100% correct. With skulls alone, good bone folks can probably get in the low 90% range for a population.

8 posted on 10/05/2007 8:22:10 AM PDT by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: BenLurkin; Coyoteman; Max in Utah; All

The article refers to bone from a robust individual, very active.

Given sexual dimorphism [the fact that hominid males are typically larger than hominid females] perhaps they made this conclusion from this bone being larger than would be expected for a female of this species. Also, wouldn’t the activity patterns developed in the bone be different for an adult hunting male in his prime compared with those of a female living a less, or differently active way of life?


45 posted on 10/07/2007 7:26:11 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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