Morphological variation in the bicondylar angle of the human femur

Abstract

The bicondylar angle is the angle between the intercondylar plane that is perpendicular to the femoral shaft. The formation of the angle is influenced by biological factors, behavioral patterns, and how one interacts with their environment during ontogenesis. The bicondylar angle is theorized to be sexually dimorphic in some populations and can be slightly altered after ossification by significant changes in behavior through bone remodeling, but few studies exist attempting to measure the degree of change. This thesis presents a different tool and methodology for measuring the bicondylar angle on dry femora of a modern Southwestern sample from the STAFS collection at Sam Houston State University.