A forensic anthropologist examining a skull notes shovel shaped upper central incisors along with a round cranial vault and high cheekbones. These findings point to ancestry belonging to the:

• A Negroid group
• B Australoid group
• C Caucasoid group
• D Mongoloid group ✓

Explanation

Shovel shaped incisors, where the lingual surface of the incisor shows elevated marginal ridges, occur in a high proportion of Mongoloid populations including East Asians and Native Americans. Combined with a rounded (brachycephalic) vault and prominent zygomatic bones, this is the classic Mongoloid cluster. The best distractor is Caucasoid, whose dental marker is instead the Carabelli cusp on the upper first molar, not shovelling.

Reference: Parikh's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, 7th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.