Population variation in asymmetry and diversity from finger to finger for digital ridge-counts

✍ Scribed by Richard L. Jantz

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1975
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 659 KB
• Volume: 42
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0002-9483
• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330420207

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Population variation in ridge‐count asymmetry and diversity from finger to finger has received scant attention in dermatoglyphic studies. Asymmetry, in particular, has generally been attributed to environmental effects operating during the formation of dermal ridges. Examination of samples from several groups of diverse racial background revealed the existence of considerable population variation with respect to finger ridge‐count asymmetry and diversity from finger to finger. Patterning along population lines suggests a genetic rather than environmental basis for such variation. The genetic mechanisms responsible for ridge‐counts may also mediate asymmetry and diversity, or the degree of developmental stability in different populations may itself be under genetic control.