Inbreeding as Measured by Isonymy in Two Venezuelan Populations and Its Relationship to Other Variables

Document Type

Article

Authors

D. Castro De Guerra, Laboratorio de Genética Humana, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Caracas, Venezuela
J. Pinto-Cisternas, Laboratorio de Genética Humana, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Caracas, Venezuela
A. Rodriguez-Larralde, Laboratorio de Genética Humana, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Caracas, Venezuela

Abstract

Isonymy is a useful approach to the study of population structure and thus can be utilized to detect deviations from random mating. In this study we give the results of an analysis of inbreeding levels and relate such variables as mean marital distance, surnames repeated in isonymous couples, and percentage of people using only maternal surnames to inbreeding and endogamy in two Venezuelan populations of black ancestry, Birongo and La Sabana. These populations differ in their sociocultural development and degree of isolation. We estimated inbreeding through isonymy and directly from genealogy. The most important findings are that the F_t values are higher than the α’s, that the F_n component of F_t is higher than the F_r component, and that there is higher endogamy, inbreeding, and isolation in Birongo than in La Sabana. These results are in agreement with the sociocultural and historical background and development of each population. Nevertheless, both populations show similar temporal trends in almost all the variables analyzed. The use of isonymy as a complementary tool to study population structure is proposed, especially for Ibero-American populations.

Recommended Citation

De Guerra, D. Castro; Pinto-Cisternas, J.; and Rodriguez-Larralde, A. (1990) "Inbreeding as Measured by Isonymy in Two Venezuelan Populations and Its Relationship to Other Variables," Human Biology: Vol. 62: Iss. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol62/iss2/6