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Concept
Osteology
Summary
Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification (from cartilaginous molds), and the resistance and hardness of bones (biophysics).
Osteologists frequently work in the public and private sector as consultants for museums, scientists for research laboratories, scientists for medical investigations and/or for companies producing osteological reproductions in an academic context.
Osteology and osteologists should not be confused with the pseudoscientific practice of osteopathy and its practitioners, osteopaths.
A typical analysis will include:
an inventory of the skeletal elements present
a dental inventory
aging data, based upon epiphyseal fusion and dental eruption (for subadults) and deterioration of the pubic symphysis or sternal end of ribs (for adults)
stature and other metric data
ancestry
non-metric traits
pathology and/or cultural modifications
Osteological approaches are frequently applied to investigations in disciplines such as vertebrate paleontology, zoology, forensic science, physical anthropology, and archaeology. It has been shown that osteological characters have greater consistency with molecular phylogenies than non-osteological (soft tissue) characters, implying that they may be more reliable in reconstructing evolutionary history. Osteology has a place in research on topics including:
Ancient warfare
Activity patterns
Criminal investigations
Demography
Developmental biology
Diet
Disease
Genetics of early populations
Fossil assemblages
Health
Human migration
Identification of unknown remains
Physique
Social inequality
War crimes
Examination of human osteology is often used in forensic anthropology, which is usually used to identify age, death, sex, growth, and development of human remains and can be used in a biocultural context.
Official source
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