Variation in shape of the lingula in the adult human mandible

The lingulae of both sides of 165 dry adult human mandibles, 131 males and 34 females of Indian origin, were classified by their shape into 4 types: 1 , triangular; 2, truncated; 3, nodular; and 4, assimilated. Triangular ling ulae were found in 226 (68.5 %) sides, truncated in 52 (15.8 %), nodular in 36 (10.9 %) and assimilated in 16 (4.8 %) sides. Triangular lingulae were found bilaterally in 110, truncated in 23, nodular in 17 and assimilated in 7 mandibles. Of the remaining 8 mandibles with different appearances on th e 2 sides, 6 had a combination of triangular and truncated and 2 had nodula r and assimilated. The incidence of triangular and assimilated types in the male and female mandibles are almost equal. In the truncated type it was d ouble in the male mandibles while the nodular type was a little less than d ouble in the female mandibles.