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

Document Type

Article

Authors

B Mohan Reddy, Indian Statistical InstituteFollow
Dario A. Demarchi, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
S Bharati, Indian Statistical Institute
Vikrant Kumar, Indian Statistical Institute

Abstract

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.

Recommended Citation

Reddy, B Mohan; Demarchi, Dario A.; Bharati, S; and Kumar, Vikrant (2004) "Patterns of Ethnic, Linguistic, and Geographic Heterogeneity of Palmar Interdigital Ridge Counts in the Indian Subcontinent," Human Biology: Vol. 76: Iss. 2, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol76/iss2/3