Sexing the Cranium from the Foramen Magnum Using Discriminant Analysis in a Brazilian Sample

Abstract In the identification process, the foramen magnum has shown controversial results in sex estimation. The present study aimed to analyze the morphometric variables of the foramen magnum in Brazilian adult cranium for sex estimation. The sample was composed of 100 craniums (53 males and 47 females) from the documented collection of the Institute of Teaching and Research in Forensic Sciences. The protocol measurement was constituted of two linear measurements: maximum length of the foramen magnum and maximum breadth of the foramen magnum and two formulas to calculate the area, method one (M1) and method two (M2). Descriptive statistics showed statistically significant differences between sex (p