A QUANTITATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON DIMORPHIC PROFILE OF TALUS IN NORTH INDIANS Gaurav Agnihotri * 1 , Swarnjeet Kaur 2 . *1 Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab, India. 2  Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Corresponding   Author   Address:    Dr   Gaurav   Agnihotri,   Associate   Professor,   Department   of   Anatomy,   Government   Medical   College,   Amritsar,   Punjab,   India. Mobile:09815542792. E-Mail:  anatomygaurav@yahoo.com. ABSTRACT: Introduction:    The   Talus   is   the   keystone   of   the   human   tarsus   and   is   the   weight   bearing   bone   which   is   often   recovered   intact.It   is   vital   for   sex,   race,   age   and sex determination. Aims:    The   present   study   intends   to   assess   the   dimorphic   status   of   Talus   in   North   Indians   on   basis   of   size   and   weight.It   addresss   the possibility and reliability of sex/race identification using the metric attributes of talus in North Indians. Material   and   Methods:     500   dry   tali   (250   males;   250   females)   of   known   sex   .Right   left   ratio   1:1   were   taken.   The   study   was   conducted   in   the   department of Anatomy in Government Medical Colleges of Punjab during the period 2011-2016. Results:    There   exists   a   definite   sexual   dimorphism   in   the   morphometry   of   talus   for   north   indian   population.   The   highly   accurate   scores   obtained   by   the discriminant   function   analysis      establish   the   dimorphic   profile   of   the   talus   in   north   indian   population.   When   the   eight   variables   for   both   sides   were   taken into   consideration   the   %   accuracy   of   sex   determination   reached   a   maximum   level   of   100%.   The   predictive   validity   values   indicate   that   the   classification functions have proved to be a useful diagnostic tool to identify the sex of the northern indians. Conclusions:    It   can   be   concluded   that   the   talus   of   north   indians   is   useful   for   the   sex   determination   of   skeletal   remains   in   either   a   complete   or   fragmentary state. KEYWORDS:  Sexual dimorphism, Talus, North Indians. References 1 . Bidmos MA, Asala SA. Discriminant function sexing on the calcaneus of the South African whites. J Forensic Sci. 2003;48(6):1231-8. 2 . Harris, Marie S. Sexual dimorphism in the tarsals: Implications for sex determination. 2009. 3 . Vesalius   A.   In   the   fabric   of   the   Human   body.   Translated   by   WF   Richardson   and   JB   Carman.   San   Francisco,   California:   Norman Publishing. 1998. 4 . McGregor   AL,      Plessis   DJD.      Accessory   bones   of   the   foot.   In:   A   synopsis   of   surgical   anatomy.   10 th    Edition.   Bombay:   KM   Varghese   Company;   1969;   232- 38. 5 . Hollinshead   WH.   Ankle   and   foot.   In:   Anatomy   for   surgeons.   1 st    Edition   New   York:   Paul   B   Hoeber   Inc.   Med   Book   Deptt.   of      Harper   and   Brothers; 1958;3:832-34. 6 . Mark   SD.   The   foot   and   ankle.   In:   Standring   S,   Ellis   H,   Johnson   D,   Williams   A,   Glass   J.   Gray's   Anatomy.   39 th    Edition.   Edinburgh:   Elsevier   Churchill Livingstone; 2005;1512-13. 7 . McMinn RMH. Bones of the foot. In: Last's Anatomy- Regional and Applied. 9 th  Edition. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1993;231-33. 8 . Kleiger B. Fractures of the talus. J Bone Joint Surg.1948 Jul 3, 30(A): 735-43. 9 . Barret    C,    Cavallari    W,    Sciulli    PW.    Estimation    of    sex    from    the    talus    in    prehistoric    native    Americans.    College    Anthropology. 2001;25(1):13-9. 1 0 . Bidmos   MA,   Dayal   MR.   Sex   determination   from   talus   of   South   African   whites   by   discriminant   function   analysis.   Am   J   Forensic Med and Path. 2003;24(4):322-8. 1 1 . Steele    DG.    The    calcaneus    and    talus:    discriminant    functions    for    estimation    of    sex    among    American    whites    and    Negros.    Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Kansas. 1970. 1 2 . Thieme FP, Schull WJ. Sex determination from the skeleton. Hum Biol. 1957; 29(3):242- 73. 1 3 . Rosas A, Bastir M.   Thin-plate spline analysis of allometry in the human craniofacial complex. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2002;117(3):236–245. 1 4 . Koshy S, Vettivel S and Selvaraj KG .Estimation of length of calcaneum and talus from their bony markers. J For Sci . 2002;129:200-4. 1 5 . Gualdi-Russo E. Sex determination from the talus and calcaneus measurements. Forensic Sci International. 2007;171(2-3):151-6. 1 6 . Lee   UV,   Hans   SH   ,Park   DK,Kim   YS,Kim   DI,Chung   IH   ,Chun   MH.   Sex   determination   from   the   Talus   of   Koreans   by   discriminant   function   analyses.   J   For   Sci. 2012;57(1):166-71. 1 7 . Murphy    AMC.    The    talus:    sex    assessment    of    prehistoric    Newzealand    Polynesian    skeletal    remains.    Forensic    Sci    International. 2002b;128(3):155-8. 1 8 . Park DK, Ra JJ, Park KH, Kim DI, Kim YS, Lee UY, et al. Determination of sex in Koreans using atlas. Korean J Phys Anthropol 2009;22(3):205-12. 1 9 . Yu   SB,   Lee   UY,   Kwak   DS,   Ahn   YW,   Jin   CZ,   Zhao   J,   et   al.   Determination   of   sex   for   the   12th   thoracic   vertebra   by   morphometry   of   three   dimensional reconstructed vertebral models. J Forensic Sci 2008;53(3): 620–5. 2 0 . Kim   DI,   Lee   UY,   Park   DK,   Kim   YS,   Han   KH,   Kim   KH,   et   al.   Morphometrics   of   the   hyoid   bone   for   human   sex   determination   from   digital   photographs.   J Forensic Sci 2006;51(5):979–84. 2 1 . Dehiyan    Anuradha,Agnihotri    G.Clavicular    Indices    in    North    Indians-A        Dimorphic    Study        Journal    of    Research    in    Medical    Education    and    Ethics. 2011;1(2):36-39. 2 2 . Lee JY, Lee JY, Paik DJ, Koh KS, Song WC. Sex determination of the sternum in Koreans.Korean J Phys Anthropol 2009;22(2):107–15. 2 3 . Choi   BY,   Chung   IH.   Sex   discrimination   with   the   metric   measurements   of   the   Korean   dried   pelvic   bones   by   discriminant   function   analysis.   Korean   J   Phys Anthropol.1999, 12(1):151–7. 2 4 . Hu   KS,   Koh   KS,   Jung   HS,   Kang   MK,   Choi   BY,   Kim   HJ.   Physical   anthropological   characteristics   and   sex   determinative   analysis   by   the   metric   traits   of Korean mandibles. Korean. J Phys Anthropol 2000;13(4):369-82. 2 5 . Agnihotri   G,   Sikri   V.   Crown   and   cusp   dimensions   of   the   maxillary   first   molar:   A   study         of   sexual   dimorphism      in   Indian   Jat   Sikhs.   Dental   Anthropology. 2010;21(1):1-6. 2 6 . Javia   MD,   Patel   MM,.   Kubavat   DM,   Dixit   D,   Singel   TC.   Morphometry   of   the   Talus   on   the   Basis   of   Sexual   Dimorphism.   Paripex‾Indian   Journal   Of Research,2013;3(5). 2 7 . Meindl   RS,   Lovejoy   CO,   Mensforth   RP,   Don   Carlos   L.   Accuracy   and   direction   of   error   in   the   sexing   of   the   skeleton:   implications   for   paleodemography. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1985;68(1):79–85. 2 8 . Calcagno J.M., On the applicability of sexing human skeletal material by discriminant function analysis, J. Hum. Evol.1981;10:189–198. 2 9 . Bidmos   MA,   Dayal   MR.   Further   evidence   to   show   population   specificity   of   discriminant   function   equations   for   sex   determination using the talus of south African blacks. J Forensic sci.2004;49(6):1165-70.