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Skeletal Phenotypic Variation and Modern Human Evolution in Asian Populations

NCJ Number
310328
Author(s)
Date Published
2022
Length
384 pages
Annotation

This paper presents an analysis of various datasets of dentition and cranium samples from Asian and Japanese populations, to fill an information gap in American datasets, which consist predominantly of individuals of European and/or African descent; the paper discusses the project's findings as well as areas where future research might focus to better address the needs of forensic scientists.

Abstract

This dissertation addresses a need among forensic practitioners to be able to accurately estimate the biological profile of unknown Asian decedents as well as the need to appropriately situate Asian skeletal and dental variation within a microevolutionary framework. The paper presents a study that took a multi-faceted approach to addressing those forensic needs, through an analysis of various datasets of the detention and cranium; it describes the research methodology; and discusses the results, which indicate that larger sample sizes than were used in this project will be needed to better capture the range of variation in Asian American populations. The dissertation also concludes that high levels of genetic drift that were observed in the research results are consistent with the relative degrees of cultural and geographic isolation that is experienced by the Japanese and Asian American study samples.

Date Published: January 1, 2022