Dermatoglyphic variation among Sub-Saharan Africans: $ba multivariate analysis of population structure

It has been previously observed that population structure analysis using dermatoglyphics tends to follow similar patterns formed by other biological features (serology, craniometric, anthropometrics), and reflect relevant linguistic or geographical distributions. But the level of these correlations has not been consistantly identified, causing some debate over the validity of dermatoglyphics as a form of study in human populations. A systematic analysis of a series of populations needs to be made to evaluate how well dermatoglyphic variables generate significant genetic, cultural and geographical relationships dermatoglyphic affinities. between groups, and which features best present these particular population affinities. Using multivariate statistical methods, the five most widely employed dermatoglyphic techniques are tested for their ability to present understandable population structure. Complete 20 finger ridge-counts, 10 finger ridge-counts, palmar interdigital ridge-counts, finger pattern frequencies and palmar pattern frequencies, following standard methods, were obtained for 50 African tribal populations.