Sanchez, JoseHoppa, RD2025-07-292025-07-292023-12-072025-07-28http://hdl.handle.net/1993/39176Reliable morphological sex estimation in non-adult skeletons continues to be problematic in juvenile osteology. Methodological exploration has focused on infants and children (0–12 years of age), but less attention has been given to adolescents (12–19 years of age). A critical challenge to non-adult sex estimation is that the full expression of sexual dimorphism in areas of the skeleton that have garnered the most attention due to their use in adult sex estimation (i.e., pelvis) does not occur until adulthood. Little research has been conducted to determine if a threshold along the pubertal growth curve that may yield high sex estimation accuracy exists. This study examined the relationship between pelvic sexual dimorphism and stages of pubertal growth from four skeletal traits. Eighteen pelvic traits outlined by Schutkowski (1993) and Rogers and Saunders (1994) were examined on 128 non-adults (4 months–20 years of age) from the Hamann-Todd and Terry Collections. Pubertal stage was examined on 98 individuals between 8 and 20 years of age. Sex estimation accuracies for each trait and combined traits were assessed for each stage. Statistical significance of correct sex estimates was tested using chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. This study demonstrated that reaching the post-pubertal period was not required for the full expression of sexual dimorphism of all 18 traits. Surpassing peak height velocity, the period of fastest growth, was more critical given that high accuracy (i.e., > 80%) was observed for sex estimates using five individual pelvic traits and the combination of all 18 traits by the deceleration stage.engSexual dimorphismadolescentspuberty stagespelvismorphological traitsjournal article10.5744/bi.2022.0005