A forensic anthropologist examining skeletal remains from a tropical country states that the skull belongs to a person of Negroid (Sub-Saharan African) ancestry based on morphological features. Which combination of features MOST strongly supports Negroid ancestry?

• A Low, broad skull; flat nasal bones; shovel-shaped incisors; Inca bone
• B Narrow nasal aperture; sharp nasal sill; orthognathous face; Carabelli's cusp
• C High, narrow skull vault; prognathism; wide nasal aperture; rectangular orbits; broad mandible ✓
• D Rounded orbits; rounded nasal aperture; pronounced torus palatinus; brachycephaly

Explanation

Negroid (African) ancestry features include: dolichocephaly or mesocephaly; marked alveolar prognathism (protrusion of alveolar maxilla/mandible); wide, rectangular nasal aperture with no nasal sill (guttered margin); rectangular or square orbits; zygomatic arches extending beyond the skull outline; large mandible; and low nasal index. Mongoloid (Asian) ancestry features include flat nasal bones, shovel-shaped incisors, Inca bone, and malar tubercles. Caucasoid features include narrow nasal aperture with sharp sill, orthognathism, rounded orbits, and narrow skull. These are population-level statistical tendencies, not absolutes.

Reference: The Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (Narayan Reddy), 34th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.