A quantitative assessment of the morphology of the piriform aperature as an indicator of race

Abstract

A quantitative method for assessing the morphology of the piriform aperture was developed in order to investigate ancestry of an unknown skull. Discriminant function analysis predicted an unknown specimen's race with an accuracy of 77.4%. Step‐wise analysis produced an accuracy of 79.0%. The objective of this study was to quantitatively assess piriform aperture morphology as a tool for discriminating ancestry between Black and White populations. Twenty‐four linear measurements as well as the perimeter of the anterior nasal aperture were taken from digital images using the Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.0 Measurement Tool. Multivariate analysis, specifically Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA), was used to analyze the data. Eleven of the twenty‐five variables measured in this study proved to be racially dimorphic. A multivariate discriminant function produced a useful equation to predict an unknown specimen's race based on the discriminate function score with an accuracy of 77.4%. Step‐wise discriminant function analysis, using only the three most significant variables, produced an accuracy of 79.0%. Where the sex was known to be male, DFA generated a function using only one variable (105° from centroid) to accurately discriminate between the two races. The results of this study bear out the hypothesis that one can determine the race or ancestry of an unknown skull, using the Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.0 Measurement Tool.This research was funded by Palmer College. This investigation was conducted in a facility constructed with support from Research Facilities Improvement Program Grant Number C06 RR15433–01 from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institute of Health.