Additional skeletal clues referring to development are that female skeletons tend to mature faster than males, with a hardening of the cartilage occurring at a younger age, by age 18 for females and age 21 for males. This may be due to the reproductive advantage conferred on the species if a female body is strong enough to support a child in utero at an earlier age (Liu, Sartor and Nader).

The age of the skeleton also provides clues relating to development. While younger children and infants may be hard to tell apart in gender, the elderly skeleton may be show osteoporosis in the female skeleton as compared to age-matched males, as the lack of estrogen contributes to decreasing bone density with age. The male skeleton, due to the presence of testosterone, may simply not degenerate as fast in terms of osteoporosis as a female's would (Kim, Sung and Song).

While...
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