Finger ridge‐count variation among various Subsaharan African groups

This paper addresses the question of the extent to which finger ridge‐count data are useful features with which to study population variation in Subsaharan Africa. Each subject was represented by a vector of 20 ridge‐counts, a radial and an ulnar count for each digit. Such data were available from 11 African groups, nine of which were indigenous Africans, and two, the South African Colored and South African Indians, contained a portion of non‐African ancestory. The ridge‐counts were first transformed to principal component scores and these were subjected to multivariate analysis of variance and distance analysis to elucidate intergroup variation. The primary findings were that ridgecounts provide a good reflection of variation on at least two levels, that of African versus non‐African, and variation among Africans. Also, the principal components that reveal variation at these two levels are very different. We conclude that ridge‐counts can only be useful in population studies if full account is taken of their multicomponent nature. Copyright © 1982 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company