Finger and palmar dermatoglyphics in Muzeina Bedouin from South Sinai: A quantitative study

Authors

  • Bibha Karmakar Biological Anthropology Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, India
  • Eugene Kobyliansky Human Population Biology Unit, Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12697/poa.2012.21.08

Keywords:

dermatoglyphics, pattern types, Bedouins

Abstract

Quantitative finger and palmar dermatoglyphics of 218 individuals (170 males and 48 females) belonging to the Muzeina Bedouins from South Sinai Peninsula. They are characterized with a high degree of consanguinity, a small isolate nomadic tribe. 22 quantitative dermatoglyphic traits (12 finger and 10 palms) were considered in the present study. Except PII (non-significant sex difference), the results of significant sex differences of finger ridge counts (TFRC), MLI are similar with the earlier studies in various populations. However, the results of palmar traits reveal homogeneity which also presents a common picture obtained in the earlier studies, perhaps due to the possible role of environmental (prenatal) factors in the realization of dermatoglyphics between finger and palm. The development of palmar dermatoglyphics has a relatively longer growth period compared with fingers (Cummins 1929). Thus, the palmar dermatoglyphic pattern of affinities corresponds better than fingers to the ethno-historic background of the populations (Reddy et al. 1988, Karmakar et al. 1989, 2002, 2008, 2010).

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