Abstract
Background: Anatomy is a story of many, many migrations and relations of cells, tissues, and organs. It is an assembled of artifacts and facts. Physical anthropology is one of the oldest studies of man. Skeleton gives structural framework to the body. The study of bones serves important information like; they constitute the evidence for the study of fossil man. They are the basis of racial classification in prehistory. They are the means of biological comparison of prehistoric peoples with the present living descendants. They give evidence for the culture and worldwide of the people studied. Their identification often helps solve forensic cases and give information about stature, age, and sex of the individual. It also provides information on prehistoric customs and diseases.

Objectives: The assessment of human sex from skeletal parts is of very much medicolegal and anthropological importance. The present study aims at obtaining results from the length of femur in Gujarat and to develop standards in the determination of sex and compare the present study with those of other population.

Materials and Methods: The study was carried out using 150 dry, normal adult femora (97 male and 53 female) in NHL municipal medical college, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

Results: Mean maximum length of male femur is more than female femur in the Gujarati population of the present study. In Gujarat population, if the maximum length of male femur is >462 mm, then it is definitely male femur and if it is <366 mm than it is definitely female femur.

Conclusion: The maximum length of femur of Gujarat population is less than the length of American white, California, Marathwada, North Central India and population of Maharashtra, while more than the length of Chinese population. The findings of the present study may be useful in medicolegal cases for the estimation of sex from available fragmentary femora. The study can also be useful for anatomist and physical anthropologist.

Key words: Femur, Sexual dimorphism, Maximum length