On the expression of sex dimorphism

Abstract

A procedure is developed and presented for the calculation of sex dimorphism in quantitative variates. Instead of expressing sex dimorphism by the male X/female X ratio, it deletes the area of overlap of the two curves and provides the proportion of males and females in terms of the areas under each curve. Examination of anthropometric variates among Eskimos from northwestern Alaska and the Hadza from Tanzania indicates that extremity measurements might be of special value for assessing the magnitude of sex dimorphism.