NCJ Number
239636
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 57 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2012 Pages: 176-181
Date Published
January 2012
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study investigates the frequency of bifidity/nonbifidity in the Black and White South African populations.
Abstract
The present study investigates the frequency of bifidity/nonbifidity in the Black and White South African populations. Four-hundred skeletons of known race, sex, and tribal group were examined. Spinous processes were classified as bifid (bifurcate and cleft subtypes) and nonbifid (obtuse, pediculate, acinate, and clavate subtypes). Statistical analysis using the chi-squared probability test (p less than 0.05) was carried out. Bifid spinous processes were present significantly more frequently in the White sample (58.9 percent) than in the Black (31.6 percent). A bifid spinous process occurred most commonly in C2 (89 percent) followed by C5 (83 percent), C4 (79 percent), C3 (59.4 percent), and C6 (41.7 percent) in the White sample. A similar order of decrease in bifidity occurred in the Black sample. C2 most commonly displayed the bifurcate subtype of spinous process, while the clavate subtype of nonbifid spinous process was the most common in both populations. The significantly higher frequency of bifidity in the White South African sample when compared to the Black sample may suggest a population difference. Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.