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Forensic facial reconstruction: A computer tomography study of facial soft tissue thickness in Nigerian adult male multi-ethnic population

Adegbite, Nurudeen, Mura, Manuela, Shafiu, Haliru, Avery, Christopher, Ahmed, Waqar·2025·International Journal of Legal Medicine
DOI 10.1007/s00414-025-03455-9PMC PMC12170741
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Abstract

Facial soft tissue thickness (FSTT) was measured from computer tomography scans of 55 Nigeria adult males. Forensic facial reconstruction (FFR) with own population FSTT values can be vital in recognition of skeletal remains and has been used as an adjunct in forensic science.There are no published FSTT values for this population. Measurements were obtained at 12 mid-sagittal and 19 bilateral points totalling 50 and by use of a software package called RadiAnt. In comparison to previous studies in Africa, measurements were taken from more points and with a diverse age of 18 to 100 years. Mean FSTT values were determined for these combined Nigerian male ethnicities. These values will suffice in FFR for this population and for the Hausa adult male. This population homogenously showed more soft tissue volumes on the left than the right side at all FSTT points with the most relative difference at the frontal eminence and the least at the mid-point of the masseter muscle. The low relative difference at the mid-masseters may relate with the soft floury diets of this population. These combined Nigerian male ethnicities midline FSTT values showed significant differences in the lower third of the face when compared with other population data. The values for the right side of the face shows even more substantial differences at multiple points when compared with published data of other populations. The change with age compares well with other studies. These data will be applicable for FFR in the CNME than data of other populations.

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  • Most included studies reported balanced or near-balanced sex distributions, but Adegbite et al. (2025) included male-only samples.

    “Most investigations reported balanced or near-balanced sex distributions; however, a few studies, such as Adegbite et al. (2025),[] included male-only samples, which should be interpreted cautiously in the context of sex determination.”

    From Computed Tomography-based Craniometric Sex Determination in Forensic Anthropology: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Adegbite et al. (2025)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Adegbite, N., Mura, M., Shafiu, H., Avery, C., & Ahmed, W.
ORCID
Adegbite, Nurudeen
Venue
International Journal of Legal Medicine
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2025-03-11
Volume
139
Issue
4
Pages
1953-1970
ISSN
  • 0937-9827
  • 1437-1596
DOI
10.1007/s00414-025-03455-9
PMC
PMC12170741
Cited by
7
References
0
Language
en
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