Some dermatoglyphic features of Australian aboriginals from Mornington Island

Topologically significant dermatoglyphic patterns on palms and fingers have been analyzed in a sample of 118 Lardiil and 37 Kaiadilt males and females living on Mornington Island. The purpose of this analysis has been to demonstrate the applications of the topological classification in comparative studies and to point out some general developmental problems which have emerged from dermatoglyphic study of distant populations. The results are presented in the form of distributions of total pattern types on palms and on a set of five or 10 fingers, frequencies of pattern elements, and mean pattern intensities on different palmar areas and on individual fingers, and of intercorrelations between different patterns and different fingers. Moreover, finger ridge counts have been analyzed with respect to bilateral asymmetry. A sample of Australian aboriginals is compared with 300 individuals of British origin of corresponding sex and with some data on Polish family and twin samples. The results indicate that pattern intensity is considerably increased on fingers II, III, and IV and somewhat decreased on palms, mainly on account of much lowered frequency of some hypothenar patterns, while the patterns on the radial border of the palm are increased, a deviation being more pronounced in the females. The intercorrelations between fingers for pattern intensity and ridge counts are lowered. A possible relationship of these findings to peculiarities in the morphological structure of the hand in the aboriginals, as distinguished from that of the white Europeans, is discussed. Moreover, a lack of sexual dimorphism in finger ridge count and a high proportion of ridge dissociation in this sample indicates the need for cytogenetical investigation, especially towards peculiarities of the X chromosome, but other possible causes for these deviations should also be considered.