Skeleton Differences of Human Races

Skeleton Differences of Human Races

Thomas Allen

    This article discusses some of the racial differences in the skeleton. Not discussed is the skull as it deserves an article to itself. A brief description of the races of humans is given in "Species of Men" by Thomas Allen (2015). A more detailed description is given in Species of Men: A Polygenetic Hypothesis by Thomas Coley Allen (Franklinton, North Carolina: TC Allen Company, 1999),
    Bones differ with race.[1] Their density, size, proportions, and forms vary with race. Negroes have denser bones than Aryans. The volume of the sacral canal differs with race.[2]
    Compared to Aryan children, bones grow faster in Negro children. They grow slower in Turanian children.[3]
    The racial characteristic of the pelvic bones is usually distinct enough to make racial identification possible using only the pelvis.[4] The pelvic bones in Negro women are narrower than those in Aryan and Turanian women;[5] the pelvis of Aryans is absolutely and relatively wider than in non-Aryans.[6]
    Legs and torso of Aryans are medium to long in length. For Turanians, legs are relatively short to medium, and the torso is relatively long to medium. Flattening of the lower leg bones and of upper arm bone (the humerus) is frequent and pronounced. The legs of  the Negro is relatively long, and his torso is relatively short. The Negro’s forearm and lower leg bones are relatively long.[7] Negroes have proportionally longer arms and legs than Aryans. Turanians have long trunks and short arms and legs.[8] Like the Negro, Indo-Australian have relatively long arms.[9]
    The femur, thigh bone, varies with race. Two indexes, the Pilastric index and crural index,  illustrate the difference.
    The Pilastric index represents the linea aspera of the femur. (The linea aspera is a rough longitudinal line on the back of the femur.[10]) The following equation calculates the Pilastric index:

Pilastric index = antero-posterior diameter at middle of shaft x 100/ lateral diameter at middle of shaft

    Turanians have a Pilastric index of 103.5 to 113.1 for males and 99.8 to 108.8 for females. Aryans have a Pilastric index of 107.6 for males and 106.7 for females. Negroes have a Pilastric index of 108.6 for males and 106.5 for females.
    The crural index represent relative length of the thigh to the leg. “The higher the crural index, the longer the leg with respect to the thigh; an index of 100 would represent equal length of both segments.”[11] The following equation calculates the crural index:

crural index = bicondylar length of the tibia x 100/ bicondylar length of femur

    Anthropoids have a crural index of 92.3 for orangutan, 83.5 for chimpanzees, and 80.8 for gorillas.
Negroes have a crural index of 86.5; Turanians, 83.6 to 85.9; Indo-Australians, 88.8; Aryans, 83.5.
    The relative length of the forearms of the races differ. The brachial index represents the relative length of the forearm. The higher the brachial index, the greater the relative length of the forearm to the arm. The following equation calculates this index:

brachial index = length of radius x 100/ length of humerus

(Radius is the bone of the thumb side of the forearm.[12])
    Anthropoids have an brachial index of 79.9 for gorillas and 100.7 for orangutan. Aryans have a brachial index of 73.2 to 74.5; Negroes, 77.0 to 78.5; Turanians, 76.9 to 78.2; Indo-Australians, 78.3.[13]
    The torsion angle vary with race. “The torsion angle is formed by the crossing of two reference lines . . . a) the reference line used for the humeral head passed through the greater tuberosity between the insertion of the supraspinatus and the infraspinatus muscles, b) the reference line for, the distal end of the humerus was the articular axis which passes through the center of both capitulum and of the trochlea.”[14] The torsion angle for Aryans is 164̊. Indo-Australians have a torsion angle of 134.5̊ to 143.9̊. For Turanians (Amerindians), it is 138.5̊ to 150.2̊.[15]
    The frequency of olecranon fossa perforation varies with race and sex. (Olecranon fossa is a depression at the curved process from the ulna [the inner and large bone of the forearm] at the elbow.[16]) Anthropoids have a frequency of 26.3 percent for chimpanzees and 84.0 percent for orangutans. For Aryans, the frequency is 5 percent for males and 17.6 percent for females. For Negroes, the frequency is 11.8 for males and 34.5 for females.  Turanians have a frequency of 17 to 58 percent, and Indo-Australians, 48.5 to 58 percent.[17]
     The arch in the feet of Aryans and Turanians are well-developed. However, the arches in Negroes’ feet are low and often result in flat feet.[18]
    The ability to squat is determined by the angle at the neck of the ankle bone. The greater the angle, the easier it is for a person to squat. For Aryans the angle is 18̊; for Turanians, 20̊; for Negroes, 24̊; for apes, 29̊.[19]
    Exostosis (outgrowth of bones) is common in Aryans, less so in Turanians, and rare in Negroes.[20]
    Although Negroes usually have seven pairs of true ribs, they have eight pairs much more often than Aryans.[21] Also, the shoulder blade, scapula, varies with race.[22]
    The body of Negroes appear well-proportioned while Aryans appear thickset and Turanians even more thickset.[23]
    The vertebral column of races differs. Several indexes are used to describe these differences. These indexes include the Cunningham’s index, the sacrum length-breath index, and the sacrum curvature index.
    Cunningham’s index represents the development of the lumbar curve. The following equation calculates the index:[24]

Cunningham index = sum of posterior height of lumbar vertebrae x 100/ sum of anterior height of lumbar vertebrae

    Cunningham index classification is:
    kurthorachic          up to 97.9
    orthorachic            98 to 101.9
    koilorchic              102 and above

    “Indices above 100 indicate absence of a strongly developed lumbar curve. . . .”[25] Aryans are kurthorachic. Indo-Australians and Khoisans are koilorchic.[26]
    The sacrum is formed by the five vertebrae that follow the lumbar vertebrae. The following equation calculates this index:

length-breath index = maximum sacred breath x 100/ midventral straight height

    Sacrum length-breath index classifications is:
    dolichohieric (narrow sacrum)     up to 99.9
    subplatyhierric                                100 to 105.5
    platyhieric (wide sacrum)             106 and above

    Turanians (Chinese), Negroes, and Khoisans are dolichohieric. Aryans and pygmies are subplatyhierric.  Turanians (Polynesians), Indo-Australians, and Melanochroi are platyhieric.[27]
    The sacrum curvature index represents sacral curvature. The following equation calculates this index:

curvature index = midventral straight height x 100/ midventral curved height

    Anthropoids have an index of 98.7. Indo-Austrailians have an average index of 93.1; Negroes, 92.4; Khoisans,  88.5; Turanians, 85.4; Aryans 84.9 – 86.5.[28]
    As shown above, the skeletons of the races of humans differ significantly. Even absent the skull, a trained person can often identify the race of a person by his skeleton alone.

Endnotes
1. Juan Comas, Manual of Physical Anthropology (Springfield, 1957), pp. 412ff.  Stanley M. Garn, Human Races (Springfield, 1961), p. 27.

2. Garn, p. 27.

3. J. Philippe Rushton, Race, Evolution, and Behavior: A Life History Perspective (New Brunswick, 1995), p. 29.

4. Garn, p. 27.

5. James F. Downs and Herman K. Bleibtreu, Human Variation: An Introduction to Race and Racism (Beverly Hills, California:Benziger Bruce & Glencoe, Inc. 1972), p. 261.

6. Vladimir Andeyer, Raciology: The Science of the Hereditary Traits of Peoples, 2nd ed., trans. Patrick Clourier (Moscow, Russia, 2007), p. 182.

7. Robert Bean, The Races of Man: Differentiation and Dispersal of Man (New York, 1932),pp. 89-90.

8. Andeyer, p. 182.

9. Andeyer, p. 181.

10. W.A. Newman Dorland, American Pocket Medical Dictionary (Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders Co., 1945), p. 535.

11. Comas, p. 428.

12. Dorland, p. 803.

13. Comas, p. 428.

14. Comas, pp. 422-433.

15. Comas, pp. 423.

16. Dorland, pp. 388, 676.

17. Comas, pp. 421-422.

18. Robert Bean, The Races of Man: Differentiation and Dispersal of Man (New York, 1932), pp. 89-90.

19. Andeyer, p. 185.

20. Bean, pp. 89-90.

21. Andeyer, p. 181.

22. Comas, pp. 419-420.

23. Andeyer, p. 182.

24. Comas, p. 415.

25. Comas, p. 415.

26. Comas, p. 415.

27. Comas, p. 415.

28. Comas, pp. 415-416.

Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Coley Allen.

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