A morphological comparison of the foramen magnum of the male Middle Kyushuites with that of other ethnological groups.

The foramen magnum of the male Middle Kyushuites was examined by both osteoscopic and osteometric methods. In the osteoscopic study, the two-semicircular shape was the most numerous as in the case of the adult Germans. The breadth and the index of the foramen magnum did not show any significant differences between the male Middle Kyushuites and the other ethnological groups, while the length of the foramen magnum was shorter than that of the others with a statistical significance. The mean length of the foramen magnum of the Kikai-islanders was the longest among the Japanese.