Miller K W, Walker P L, O'Halloran R L
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
J Forensic Sci. 1998 Nov;43(6):1138-43.
Although the relationship between hyoid bone shape and fracture pattern figures prominently in forensic investigations of strangulation, few quantitative data exist on age and sex differences in hyoid morphology. An image analysis system was used to take a series of 30 measurements on digitized radiographs of 315 hyoid bones from people of known age and sex. The degree of fusion of the greater cornua to the hyoid body was also recorded. Statistical analysis of these data shows that there is a continuous distribution of hyoid bone shapes and the most bones are highly symmetrical. Based on smaller samples, previous researchers have suggested that non-fusion is more common in women than in men. In contrast, our data suggest that men and women have similar non-fusion rates. Analysis of sexual dimorphism shows that the greatest length differences are in the greater cornua. There are also significant sex differences in hyoid shape. For example, the distal ends of the greater cornua of women are significantly longer than those of men.
尽管舌骨形状与骨折模式之间的关系在勒死的法医调查中占据显著地位，但关于舌骨形态在年龄和性别差异方面的定量数据却很少。使用图像分析系统对315块已知年龄和性别的人的舌骨数字化X光片进行了一系列30项测量。还记录了大角与舌骨体的融合程度。对这些数据的统计分析表明，舌骨形状呈连续分布，且大多数骨头高度对称。基于较小的样本，先前的研究人员认为女性未融合的情况比男性更常见。相比之下，我们的数据表明男性和女性的未融合率相似。性二态性分析表明，最大长度差异存在于大角。舌骨形状也存在显著的性别差异。例如，女性大角的远端明显比男性的长。
