3 ms·
Human hermaphrodites/intersex people have definitely existed throughout history [1][2]. They are very rare, modern estimates put them at somewhere around 0.02%–
by wongarsu 3y ago
Human hermaphrodites/intersex people have definitely existed throughout history [1][2]. They are very rare, modern estimates put them at somewhere around 0.02%–0.05% of all births. So for any random skeleton it's probably safe to assume it isn't intersex, but analyze enough and you will find a couple that are.
Just the normal variation of humans is also an issue. For almost any characteristic, the bell curve of typical male features overlaps with the bell curve of typical female features. There are some anatomical features that are very distinct like the shape of the pelvis, but if you don't have a complete skeleton you might mistake a tall strong woman for a man or the other way around.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphrodite#Use_regarding_humans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphrodite#Use_regarding_hu...
2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex#History
- fanf2 3y agoThe shape of the pelvis depends more on whether it has been through childbirth than on the sex of its owner.
- cherry_tree 3y agoAny source for 0.02-0.05% ? I’ve heard various numbers
- wongarsu 3y agoWikipedia, which quotes it from a paper from 2017 [1], which in turn takes the number from a paper from 2007. Though taking a quick peek at some papers on specific forms of intersex, it seems like there are both large uncertainties in the actual numbers (about a factor of 2) and large regional differences (a specific form of intersex being an order of magnitude more common in one country than in another seems to be common). Though maybe that's just down to the available data. 1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5866176/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5866176/