ALLOMETRIC SECULAR CHANGE IN THE LONG BONES FROM THE 1800S TO THE PRESENT

Allometric secular changes in the six long limb bones for While and Bl ack males from the mid 1800s to the present are examined. Long bone le ngths are available from the Terry collection and WWII casualties. We conducted two types of analysis to reveal secular changes. First, allo metry scaling coefficients were derived by regressing log bone length onto log stature. These showed that the femur, tibia and fibula were p ositively allometric with stature, while the humerus, radius and ulna were isometric. The lower limb bones were more positively allometric i n the WWII sample than in the Terry sample. Second, secular changes in length of femur and tibia and in the tibia/femur ratio were evaluated , using modem forensic cases in addition to the Terry and WWII samples . This analysis shows that secular increase in lower limb bone length is accompanied by relatively longer tibiae. Secular changes in proport ion may render stature formulae based on nineteenth century samples, s uch as the Terry collection, inappropriate for modem forensic cases. T he positive allometry of the lower limb bones argues against using sim ple femur/stature ratio, which assumes constant proportionality, as an alternative to regression equations.