Editing Human skeleton (section)

==Sex differences==
[[File:Yorkshire Museum - skeleton of a wealthy woman 1.jpg|thumb|During construction of the York to [[Scarborough Railway Bridge]] in 1901, workmen discovered a large stone coffin, close to the [[River Ouse, Yorkshire|River Ouse]]. Inside was a skeleton, accompanied by an array of unusual and expensive objects. This chance find represents one of the most significant discoveries ever made from [[Eboracum#Late Roman York|Roman York]]. Study of the skeleton has revealed that it belonged to a woman.]]

Anatomical differences between human males and females are highly pronounced in some soft tissue areas, but tend to be limited in the skeleton. The human skeleton is not as [[sexually dimorphic]] as that of many other primate species, but subtle differences between sexes in the [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]] of the skull, [[dentition]], [[long bone]]s, and pelvis are exhibited across human populations. In general, female skeletal elements tend to be smaller and less robust than corresponding male elements within a given population.{{cn|date=July 2021}} It is not known whether or to what extent those differences are genetic or environmental.

===Skull===
A variety of gross morphological traits of the human skull demonstrate sexual dimorphism, such as the median [[nuchal line]], [[mastoid process]]es, [[supraorbital margin]], [[supraorbital ridge]], and the [[chin]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Buikstra|first=J.E.|title=Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains|year=1994|publisher=Arkansas Archaeological Survey|pages=208|author2=D.H. Ubelaker}}</ref>

===Dentition===
Human inter-sex dental dimorphism centers on the [[canine teeth]], but it is not nearly as pronounced as in the other [[great apes]].

===Long bones===
Long bones are generally larger in males than in females within a given population. Muscle attachment sites on long bones are often more robust in males than in females, reflecting a difference in overall muscle mass and development between sexes. Sexual dimorphism in the long bones is commonly characterized by [[morphometric]] or gross morphological analyses.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

===Pelvis===
The human pelvis exhibits greater sexual dimorphism than other bones, specifically in the size and shape of the [[pelvic cavity]], [[Ilium (bone)|ilia]], greater sciatic notches, and the sub-pubic angle. The [[Phenice method]] is commonly used to determine the sex of an unidentified human skeleton by anthropologists with 96% to 100% accuracy in some populations.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330300214 |title=A newly developed visual method of sexing the os pubis |year=1969 |last1=Phenice |first1=T. W. |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=297–301 |pmid=5772048}}</ref>

Women's pelvises are wider in the pelvic inlet and are wider throughout the pelvis to allow for child birth. The [[sacrum]] in the women's pelvis is curved inwards to allow the child to have a "[[funnel]]" to assist in the child's pathway from the uterus to the [[birth canal]].