The present study involves the evaluation of digital dermatoglyphic traits of 2185 unrelated individuals (1152 females and 1033 males) from 17 natural valleys of the four Basque provinces (Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, Navarra, and Alava) in the Spanish Basque Country. Univariate intervalley and between-sex comparisons were carried out by means of chi-square contingency analysis for pattern types and by means of one-way analysis of variance for ridge counts. Multivariate intervalley comparison was carried out by means of correspondence analysis for pattern types and by principal component analysis for ridge counts. The results of this study are notable for the following findings: (1) in general, all variables are significantly heterogeneous among valley populations; (2) there was a greater differentiation among the valley populations than between sexes in one valley population; (3) affinities among the intervalley populations depend on the variables considered; (4) the valley populations from Vizcaya resemble those from the Pyrenees; (5) based on interprovince comparisons, the Vizcaya and Navarra samples are the closest: (6) in general, the valley samples from Alava are the worst clustered; (7) the universality of dermatoglyphic component structure fits better in males.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/41466144.pdf

Dermatoglyphic variation in Spanish Basque populations.

Published data on palmar interdigital ridge counts (a-b, b-c, and c-d) among 57 populations from the Indian subcontinent were analyzed with reference to ethnic, socioeconomic, linguistic, and geographic affiliations of the studied populations. The spatial autocorrelation analysis suggests significant correlation between dermatoglyphic and geographic distances. The congruence with the ethnic semblance of the groups is also apparent in the data, and, in fact, the multiresponse permutation procedure did suggest highly significant within-group homogeneity, confirming the biological validity of the social and ethnic criteria used in the analysis. The plots of populations on the first two principal components, accounting for 92% of the total variance, complement and support the results based on the other analyses, which show certain ethnic and geographic patterns. These findings can serve as baseline information for future studies on population variation in India, particularly studies based on molecular genetic markers, a trend that has already gained momentum.

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Patterns of Ethnic, Linguistic, and Geographic Heterogeneity of Palmar Interdigital Ridge Counts in the Indian Subcontinent

Five different endogamous populations encompassing the main social ranks in the caste hierarchy of West Bengal, India were analyzed. To compare variability in populations with contrasting ethnohistorical backgrounds, analysis of variance, Scheffe's test and cluster analysis were performed, as based on dermatoglyphic variables, namely, 22 quantitative traits and 36 indices of diversity and asymmetry. The present study reveals that: 1. Overall disparities among the 5 populations are expressed only in finger ridge counts on the Ist and Vth digits and PII, in a-b ridge counts, in endings of main lines A and D, and in MLI on the palms; 2. Heterogeneity is greater in fluctuating asymmetry than in directional asymmetry; 3. There is a greater heterogeneity in the 22 quantitative traits than in the 36 indices of diversity and asymmetry, with females contributing more than the males; 4. The highest contribution to population variation is by Lodha among five populations; 5. Inter-group variations are homogeneous in most of the variables, which does not correspond with the relationships to caste hierarchy of these populations; 6. The dendrograms based on dermatoglyphic variables demonstrate that the traditional grouping of Indian populations, based on caste hierarchy, may not be a reflection of their genetic origin, in that the pattern of clustering corresponded best with the known ethnohistorical records of the studied populations; 7. Hence, dermatoglyphic affinities may prove quite useful in tracing the ethnohistorical background of populations.

Asymmetry and diversity of dermatoglyphic traits: population comparison in five endogamous groups of West Bengal, India.

Palmar intertriradial ridge counts (a-b, b-c, c-d, a-d) in 260 males and 260 females of Sardinian origin were considered. Bilateral and sex differences, correlation coefficients, skewness and kurtosis of the four distributions and an index of asymmetry were calculated. There are no sex differences, ridge counts show positive and almost always significant correlations. The a-d ridge count shows a normal distribution in both sexes.

/pdf/palmar-intertriradial-ridge-counts-in-sardinians-544nf8hrgt.pdf

Palmar Intertriradial Ridge Counts in Sardinians

Bilateral palmar prints of 2927 males of 20 endogamous Dhangar castes of Maharashtra, India, were studied for the distributions of a-b, b-c and c-d interdigital ridge-counts. The ridge-counts have been utilized for examining the inter-population affinities among the Dhangar castes. The distribution of a-b ridge-counts is symmetrical and normal in Dhangar castes. The distributions of b-c and c-d ridge-counts on both palms also show (nearly) normal distribution, but with a tendency of negative skewness and platykurtosis in c-d ridge-count. Equality of means and standard deviations depict significant heterogeneity. The decreasing order of magnitude of means of interdigital ridge-counts is a-b > c-d > b-c among all the Dhangar castes. Intercaste comparisons reveal a great deal of variations in all ridge-counts. The pattern of relationship between the Dhangar castes based on the three ridge-counts is in agreement with the expected patterns of affinities based on the known ethno-historical evidence. The significant finding of the study is that the palmar interdigital ridge-counts follow normal distribution and that they are useful in studying inter-population affinities.

Vasu Ts

Papers

Variation in palmar interdigital ridge-counts among the 20 Dhangar castes of Maharashtra, India.