Bioassay of Kinship From Continuous Traits

Document Type

Article

Authors

John H. Relethford, Southwest Foundation for Research and Education, San Antonio, Texas

Abstract

Bioassay of kinship from continuous data is discussed in terms of the relationship between metric similarity and kinship, and between metric dissimilarity and hybridity, a function of kinship. Univariate and multivariate methods of bioassay are described with reference to their incorporation in the isolation by distance model of population structure. Simplified methods are given for the estimation of the parameters of this model given pairwise matrices of geographic distance, metric distance, and an independent estimate of kinship. Application of these methods is shown using anthropometric and surname data collected in rural western Ireland during the 1930’s. The results indicate internal comparability and parameters in agreement with those obtained from other studies of rural European population structure.

Recommended Citation

Relethford, John H. (1980) "Bioassay of Kinship From Continuous Traits," Human Biology: Vol. 52: Iss. 4, Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol52/iss4/9