Morphometric features and sexual dimorphism of adult hyoid bone: a population specific study with forensic implications

Abstract

Hyoid is a U-shaped bone present in the ventral aspect of neck at the level of fourth cervical vertebra. Morphological variants of hyoid are well documented. The present study was designed to identify these morphological features and examine the sexual dimorphism of adult hyoid bone in Indian Bengali population. The present work consisted of direct measurement in autopsy cases in a population specific sample. It was observed that the hyoid was larger in males regarding width, antero-posterior length and slope of cornu. Using t-Test with alpha level of 0.05 the length of greater cornu was found to be the only variable not significantly different in the two sexes (p = .116).