Morphometrics of the skull base for estimating sex among Koreans using 3D CT
- 1Department of Anatomy, Catholic Institute for Applied Anatomy, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea
- 2Department of Postmortem Investigation, National Forensic Service
- 3Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry, & Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Abstract
Sex estimation is a core component of the biological profile, and the skull has long been regarded as a primary skeletal element for this purpose. However, morphological studies focusing on the skull base remain limited. This study aimed to derive discriminant functions using skull base measurements for sex estimation in modern Korean skeletal samples. Three-dimensional models of the skull base were generated from CT images of 198 decedents (103 males, 95 females), and 31 measurements were subjected to statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics revealed significant sexual dimorphism across all variables, with males exhibiting greater mean values than females in every measurement (p < 0.05). Discriminant function equations were subsequently derived to facilitate sex classification. Univariate analyses yielded accuracies ranging from 61.6% to 83.8%, while a stepwise method incorporating five variables distributed across the overall skull base structure achieved a relatively high accuracy of 86.4%. To reflect forensic situations involving fragmentary remains, side-specific stepwise equations were developed; the right-side model achieved 83.3% accuracy, and the left-side model 78.8%. These findings support the utility of skull base measurements for sex estimation in a modern Korean population and highlight their applicability in forensic anthropology.
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BibTeX
@article{kim2026morphometrics,
title = {{Morphometrics of the skull base for estimating sex among Koreans using 3D CT}},
author = {Hye-Yeon Kim and Seok-Ju Choi and Young-In So and Sookyoung Lee and Scott Lozanoff and Yi-Suk Kim},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-63695-6},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63695-6},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Morphometrics of the skull base for estimating sex among Koreans using 3D CT
AU - Hye-Yeon Kim
AU - Seok-Ju Choi
AU - Young-In So
AU - Sookyoung Lee
AU - Scott Lozanoff
AU - Yi-Suk Kim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-63695-6
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63695-6
AB - Sex estimation is a core component of the biological profile, and the skull has long been regarded as a primary skeletal element for this purpose. However, morphological studies focusing on the skull base remain limited. This study aimed to derive discriminant functions using skull base measurements for sex estimation in modern Korean skeletal samples. Three-dimensional models of the skull base were generated from CT images of 198 decedents (103 males, 95 females), and 31 measurements were subjected to statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics revealed significant sexual dimorphism across all variables, with males exhibiting greater mean values than females in every measurement (p < 0.05). Discriminant function equations were subsequently derived to facilitate sex classification. Univariate analyses yielded accuracies ranging from 61.6% to 83.8%, while a stepwise method incorporating five variables distributed across the overall skull base structure achieved a relatively high accuracy of 86.4%. To reflect forensic situations involving fragmentary remains, side-specific stepwise equations were developed; the right-side model achieved 83.3% accuracy, and the left-side model 78.8%. These findings support the utility of skull base measurements for sex estimation in a modern Korean population and highlight their applicability in forensic anthropology.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -