Building on the success, and maintaining the format, of the best-selling Human and Nonhuman Bone Identification: A Color Atlas (ISBN: 978-1-4200-6286-1), Comparative Bone Identification: Human Subadult to Nonhuman presents new images of human bones representing many states of maturation from neonate to 20 years old. It also extends the scope of the former work by focusing on the smaller bones of fetuses and young humans and comparing them to bones of birds, reptiles, marine mammals, fish, and a frog that may be confused with those of a subadult human.
The book begins with a section on general osteology and explains the major anatomical differences between humans and other animals. The second section compares human and nonhuman bones, categorized by type of bone, and includes most of the major bones in humans and nonhumans. The third section presents skeletons within species.
Containing nearly 3,500 color photographs, the book provides examples of similar bones in nonhuman species that may be confused with the human bone in question. The bone images are also taken from different angles to enhance detailed understanding.
A practical comparative guide to the differences among species for nearly all bones in the body, this book is a valuable resource for the laboratory or in the field. It uses a visual approach with annotations pointing out salient features of the most commonly discovered bones, giving clear examples for use by law enforcement, medicolegal death investigators, forensic anthropologists, students, and readers who wish to distinguish between human bones and those of the a variety of animal species.
Dr. Diane France is a forensic anthropologist who has been recognized as an expert by multiple district courts in Colorado and Wisconsin. She earned her PhD in physical anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She taught anthropology for several years at Colorado State University and was the director for the university's Laboratory of Human Identification for over 20 years. She now owns and directs the Human Identification Laboratory of Colorado, an independent laboratory. She also owns France Custom Casting, which provides museum-quality replicas of forensic specimens and fragile originals. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, serving five years as its president, and is serving her fifth term on its board of directors. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and was awarded the T. Dale Stewart Award by its physical anthropology section in 2010. She served eight years on the Board of Trustees of the Forensic Science Foundation, with four years as its vice chairman. In 1989 she joined NecroSearch International, Inc., a multidisciplinary volunteer organization that assists law enforcement in the location of clandestine graves and the recovery of remains and evidence from outdoor scenes, and is currently serving as its president. Her research interests include forensic anthropology and human and nonhuman osteology.
