Differences between Male & Female skeletons?

Question

Other than the separation of the pelvis, are there any other differences between male and female human skeletons? When an ancient skeleton is unearthed, if the pelvis is missing, how can scientists "tell" if it's male or female?

Answer 1

well, male shoulders are wider.

on the basis that a numer of men have larger muscles than women, the bones such as the humerus are rouger, bulkier abd more etched with musle

Answer 2

Hah!  I was waiting for the rib nonsense to rear its ugly head and I was not disappointed.  One thing about human credulity, it's completely reliable.

Answer 3

there are actually many tests a forensic can use to tell if it was human.  there are striations on the pelvic wall from heavy period and child birth also the width of the pubis bone is a key way to tell. also doctors look for an adams apple. which is a part of what is called the hyoid bone. nems are more prominent that females. thats what controls the difference in pitch of a woman compared to a man. plus they do facial reconstructions these days that are almost freaky how close they can come to the actual facial structure of the human there are other ways to tell, like the length of the femure, the sutures in the skull (womens fuse faster than males.

Answer 4

butto or butty

Answer 5

The bone above the eye is more pronounced in a male skull.  Also a male has a protuberance on the back of his skull that is not found on a female skeleton.

Answer 6

Along with a few emphases on male skeletons that are not on the female, the single most noticeable difference is the shape of the pelvis.  In females, the pelvic girdle is wider to help in childbirth.

Female;

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

Male;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gray2...

Answer 7

I heard that the spine on women's is a lot more curved a lot of the times, so they could make a guess, but I'm not 100% sure.

Answer 8

An extra rib