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Identifying the Skeletons You are a scientist specializing in investigating skeletal remains at the Earth Museum of Natural History. In today's mail you receive a package of bones from some archeologists who have been hunting for the last known location of a famous explorer, Gabriela Molina, age 54, and her two assistants, Cordelia Kelley, age 28, and Ian Dumais, age 24. Included in the package are six well-preserved arm and leg bones, each of which is labeled. There is one radius (R1) and one ulna (U1); these are the two bones that connect the wrist and elbow. There are two humerus bones (H1 and H2). The humerus connects the shoulder and the elbow. There are two femurs (F1 and F2). The femur is the large bone in the thigh which connects the hip to the knee.  The data chart, prepared by your assistant, indicates the length of each of these bones. These measurements can be used to estimate how tall the deceased individuals might have been. Based on ratios between bone lengths and body height, your assistant has calculated possible heights for the people whose bones you received. There is no evidence, however, to show whether the bones belonged to a man or a woman. Since the ratios of bone lengths to body height are different for men and women, the chart includes estimates for both genders. For example, H1 is 39.1 centimeters long, and so could have come from a man who was 186.2-194.2 centimeters tall, or a woman who was 183.2-191.2 centimeters tall. Dr. Molina was approximately five feet five inches tall. Her female associate, Dr. Kelley, was approximately four feet ten inches tall. Mr. Dumais was significantly taller, but your files do not list a specific height for him.
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