This project will test current procedures of using modern sexing criteria on fossil hominid remains, which has proven to be more complex than previously believed. The student will test the limitations of using modern bony pelvis measurements for determining sexual dimorphism in the earliest hominids at the period of the transition to bipedalism. The student will test the hypothesis that the greater sciatic notch was probably not related to sexual differentiation of the pelvis but rather to changes in the pelvis for bipedality. This research will help paleoanthropologists determine which sexually dimorphic traits in modern humans and pongids will be strong sex discriminators in fossil hominids. It will also test assumptions about the effects on the hominid female skeleton due to increases in infant skull size. There is current debate over the sexing of fossil hominids and the amount of sexual dimorphism in specific species. This research project will help in refining the criteria by which fossils are identified as to sex.
