Abstract:
The ability to estimate the length of the bone is a major step towards estimating the stature of an
individual in forensic investigation of mass fatalities where body parts are dismembered, scattered
and mixed up. This is so because researchers have established that long bone length correlates
with stature. Nine parameters of the tibia bone were measured using anthropometric board,
anthropometric tape and digital caliper. Five of the nine parameters that could be read on anterior posterior x-ray radiograph of the tibia measured using a transparent meter rule were used in this
study. A total of 600 sample of N = 600, (300 right and 300 left bones) and (320 males: right = 160;
left = 160; 280 females: right = 140; left 140 radiographs) obtained from Anatomy museums and
hospitals in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria were used in this study. No significant difference
(p < 0.05) in the mean value was found between measurements from the bones and those from the
anteroposterior x-ray radiographs. The difference in mean for all variables were seen to be
significantly (p < 0.05) higher for males compared to females. Results show that the tibia proximal
breadth (TPB), medial-lateral diameter at mid-shaft (MLDM) and tibia distal breadth (TDB) were the
best predictors of the length of tibia. Thus, in cases of mass fatalities as could happen in a plane
crash or bomb blast, the estimate of the fragmented remains of the tibia, when compared with the
estimate from an anti-mortem x-ray radiograph, may reveal the identity of the missing individual
