Chin size (determined as the product of height and breadth) is positively associated with jaw length (; ), with substantial overlap of the sexes in both variables. This significant finding is suggestive of a functional relationship, but the correlation is plausibly reflected as a general effect of body size dimorphism. Daeglingโs [14] model of the masticatory loading of the chin emphasized coronal bending of the anterior corpus due to twisting of the postcanine corpora. Torsion of the corpora, however, has no necessary scaling relationship with mandibular length. Alternatively, this relationship could reflect a structural response to wishboning strains [68], although it is not known whether this load occurs in human mastication. Comparison of sexes by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) reveals no significant difference between male and female slopes () or intercepts ().
