Skeletal remains analyzed by anthropologists, paleontologists and forensic scientists are usually found fragmented or incomplete. Accurate estimations of the original morphologies are a challenge for which several digital reconstruction methods have been proposed. In this study, the accuracy of reconstructing bones based on multiple linear regression (RM) was tested. A total of 150 digital models from complete zygomatics from recent past populations (European and African American) were studied using high-density geometric morphometrics. Some landmarks (i.e., 2, 3 and 6) were coded as missing to simulate incomplete zygomatics and the missing landmarks were estimated with RM. In the zygomatics, this simulated damage affects a few square centimeters or less. Finally, the predicted and original shape data were compared. The results indicate that the predicted landmark coordinates were significantly different from the original ones, although this difference was less than the difference between the original zygomatic and the mean zygomatic in the sample. The performance of the method was affected by the location and the number of missing landmarks, with decreasing accuracy with increasing damaged area. We conclude that RM can accurately estimate the original appearance of the zygomatics when the damage is small.

RESUMEN: La estimación del sexo en base a restos esqueletales es uno de los principales objetivos de las ciencias forenses. Esta estimación se basa en las diferencias de forma y tamaño que existen entre mujeres y hombres (dimorfismo sexual). En este trabajo se analiza la asociación entre el dimorfismo sexual de la mandíbula y las distintas relaciones cráneo-mandibulares (ortognata, prognata y retrognata). Se analizaron 4 medidas faciales (altura facial, altura de la rama de la mandíbula, ancho mínimo de la rama mandibular, largo del cuerpo de la mandíbula) en tele-radiografías de 114 pacientes chilenos de sexo y relación cráneo-mandibular conocidos para evaluar si, al igual que en poblaciones de otras partes del mundo, estas son sexualmente dimórficas. Los resultados indican que con la excepción del largo del cuerpo de la mandíbula, las demás variables permiten una elevada clasificación correcta del sexo de los individuos (88,6 % de los casos). Se concluye que una relación cráneo-mandibular retrognata o prognata, no afecta la estimación confiable del sexo de los individuos de población chilena.