Zeitschrift für forensische Forschung

Morphometry of Malleus a Possible Tool in Sex Determination

Abstract

Kamal Singh, Sudha Chhabra, Basant Lal Sirohiwal and SPS Yadav

The sex is estimated in the dead bodies mainly from big intact bones like skull, mandible, pelvis and long bones etc. The malleus is housed in the middle ear, so, remain well protected even in the mutilated bodies and although small but strongest of all the ossicles. We studied the morphometry of the 120 human mallei from 60 cadavers (30 male and 30 female) with the aim to know the sexual dimorphism in north Indian population. Out of various parameters the total length and the length of the handle were found to be of significant value in estimation of sex.