Acta Anatomica Sinica ›› 2017, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (1): 99-102.doi: 10.16098/j.issn.0529-1356.2017.01.017

• Anthropology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Sexual dimorphism by the length of metacarpals and phalanges of Macaca mulatta

ZHAO Xiao-jin 1* WANG Feng-chan2 TIAN Hua-xiang1 DUO Tian1   

  1. 1. College of Fisheries, He’nan Normal University, He’nan Xinxiang 453007, China;2. Editorial Dpartment of Journal, He’nan Normal University, He’nan Xinxiang 453007, China

  • Received:2016-01-21 Revised:2016-09-22 Online:2017-02-06 Published:2017-02-06

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the utility of length measurements of the metacarpals and phalanges to estimate sex in a Macaca mulattapopulation. Methods The length of the metacarpals and phalanges of 11 males and 25 females was measured by direct dry bone measurement. Data analyses were performed using SPSS version 20.0. Results The result showed that the accuracies of sex determination of hand bones gradually increased from metacarpal to distal phalange. The average lengths of all five metacarpals and distal phalanges were sexually dimorphic with accuracies of 88.9% and 100.0% respectively. The total lengths of the first hand bone (including one metacarpal and two phalanges) and the fifth hand bone (including one metacarpal and three phalanges) were sexually dimorphic with accuracies of 90.3% and 100.0% respectively. The result according to factor analysis showed that the morphologic classes for all 19 hand bones were divided into the rows (metacarpals, proximal phalanges, middle phalanges, and distal phalanges) rather than the rays (five digits). Conclusion The results of this study suggest that the length of metacarpals and phalanges in monkeys can be used reliably for sexing and be a valuation tool both in theory and application in biological context in primates.

Key words: Finger phalange, Metacarpal bone, Sex determination, Osteometry, Logistic regression, Macaca