Anthropological evaluation of left-right differences in the femur of southern African populations

Abstract

Bilateral asymmetries were tested on a series of anthropological measurements recorded from 566 femora of 161 males and 122 females of southern African populations. Uni- and multivariate statistics revealed that there is a high degree of side differences apparent in the morphological features of the femur, and close to 75% of all femora could be correctly assigned to their respective sides. While most dimensions were greater on the left side, anteroposterior diameter of the proximal shaft, bicondylar width and collo-diaphyseal angle yielded significantly higher mean values on the right side. Anteroposterior diameter of the proximal shaft loaded highest in both canonical discriminant analyses. This result indicates that, overall, the left leg is stronger and is more suited to withstand axial forces and mediolateral bending. Thus, the findings seem to further support the hypothesis that most people, regardless of handedness, use their left leg for weight-bearing, whereas the right leg is more likely to be used for other tasks.