Variation in palmar interdigital ridge-counts among the 20 Dhangar castes of Maharashtra, India

Bibliographic Data

ID7637949
AuthorsBibha Karmakar (Indian Statistical Institute), T S Vasu, TA Vasu, K C Malhotra, B V Bhanu, Bir Bhanu
Year1996
Volume54
Issue3
Pages239-253
Publication date1996-09-10
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropologischer Anzeiger (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-5548 • E-ISSN: 2363-7099
PublisherSchweizerbart (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1127/anthranz/54/1996/239
PMID8870948
OpenAlexW2404885236
LanguageEN
Citations received3

Bilateral palmar prints of 2927 males of 20 endogamous Dhangar castes of Maharashtra, India, were studied for the distributions of a-b, b-c and c-d interdigital ridge-counts. The ridge-counts have been utilized for examining the inter-population affinities among the Dhangar castes. The distribution of a-b ridge-counts is symmetrical and normal in Dhangar castes. The distributions of b-c and c-d ridge-counts on both palms also show (nearly) normal distribution, but with a tendency of negative skewness and platykurtosis in c-d ridge-count. Equality of means and standard deviations depict significant heterogeneity. The decreasing order of magnitude of means of interdigital ridge-counts is a-b > c-d > b-c among all the Dhangar castes. Intercaste comparisons reveal a great deal of variations in all ridge-counts. The pattern of relationship between the Dhangar castes based on the three ridge-counts is in agreement with the expected patterns of affinities based on the known ethno-historical evidence. The significant finding of the study is that the palmar interdigital ridge-counts follow normal distribution and that they are useful in studying inter-population affinities.

Affinities · Archaeology · Biology · Dermatoglyphics · Distribution (mathematics) · Geography · Physics · Population · Ridge · Skewness · Statistics · Variation (astronomy) · Demography · Mathematics · Paleontology · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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