Palmar and digital dermatoglyphic traits of sub-Saharan African subjects

Abstract

Introduction: Dermatoglyphic traits in conjunction with other morphological, molecular and biochemical markers are extremely important in biological anthropology to explore affinities and differences between human population groups. Towards this end, not much work has been documented for sub-Saharan African subjects. Materials and methods: Bilateral finger and palmar prints were obtained by the standard technique of Cummins and Midlo on samples of Nigerians of different tribes namely Ibos, Yoruba’s, Hausas and Urhobos, Kenyans and Tanzanians, Malawians and Zimbabweans, who are apparently physically healthy subjects and whose parents and grandparents were from the countries indicated above. The palmar prints obtained were classified into arches, loops and whorls. Ridge count, atd angles and pattern intensity indices were calculated according to standard methods. Results: Ulnar loops were the most predominant palmar digital ridge patterns observed in all the studied subjects. However, the percentage frequencies of these loops vary between the regions with the East Africans having a higher percentage than Nigerians. Among South Africans, Zimbabweans had higher percentage of ulnar loops than Malawians especially the female subjects. Furthermore, the Southern Africans had the highest percentages of arches when compared with West and East Africans. The mean TFRC was highest in Southern Africans, high in East Africans but least in Nigerians while the mean atd angle and a-b ridge counts were highest in East Africans high in Southern Africans and again least in Nigerians except for Malawian females. PII values were, however, highest in Nigerians than East and Southern Africans whose values were less than 10. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated significant regional dermatoglyphic variability between Nigerians, East and Southern Africans in atd angles a-b ridge counts, TFRC and PII an indication of the usefulness of dermatoglyphic traits in the study of population dynamics. However, in spite of these differences, sub-Saharan African populations fit within the well-established clinal distribution of traits, showing a comparatively high whorl frequency among northernly located population groups.