Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
The 2nd:4th digit ratio, sexual dimorphism, population differences, and reproductive success: Evidence for sexually antagonistic genes?
Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 21, No. 3, Year 2000
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
The ratio between the length of the 2nd and 4th digit (2D:4D) is sexually dimorphic, with mean male 2D:4D lower than mean female 2D:4D. It recently was suggested that 2D:4D is negatively correlated with prenatal testosterone and positively correlated with prenatal estrogen. It is argued that high prenatal testosterone and low estrogen (indicated by low 2D:4D) favors the male fetus and low prenatal testosterone and high estrogen (indicated by high 2D:4D) favors the female fetus. The patterns of expression of 2D:4D are interpreted in terms of sexually antagonistic genes. We report data on the following. (a) reproductive success and 2D:4D from England, Germany, Spain, Hungary (ethnic Hungarians and Gypsy subjects), Poland, and Jamaica (women only). Significant negative associations were found between 2D:4D in men and reproductive success in the English and Spanish samples and significant positive relationships between 2D:4D in women and reproductive success in the English, German, and Hungarian samples. The English sample also showed that married women had higher 2D:4D ratios than unmarried women, suggesting male choice for a correlate of. high ratio in women, and that a female 2D:4D ratio greater than male 2D:4D predicted high reproductive success within couples. Comparison of 2D:4D ratios of 62 father: child pairs gave a significant positive relationship. This suggested that genes inherited from the father had some influence on the formation of the 2D:4D ratio. Waist:hip ratio in a sample of English and Jamaican women was negatively related to 2D:4D. (b) Sex and population differences in mean 2D:4D in samples from England, Germany, Spain, Hungary (including ethnic Hungarians and Gypsy subjects), Poland, Jamaica, Finland, and South Africa (a Zulu sample). Significant sex and population differences in mean 2D:4D were apparent. © 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Manning, John T.
United Kingdom, Liverpool
University of Liverpool
Barley, L.
United Kingdom, Liverpool
University of Liverpool
Walton, Julie M.
United Kingdom, Liverpool
University of Liverpool
Lewis-Jones, David Iwan
United Kingdom, Liverpool
Liverpool Women's Hospital
Trivers, Robert L.
United States, New Brunswick
Department of Anthropology
Singh, Devendrá
United States, Richardson
The University of Texas at Dallas
Thornhill, Randy
United States, Albuquerque
The University of new Mexico
Rohde, Percy A.
Germany, Kassel
Universität Kassel
Bereczkei, Tamás
Hungary, Pecs
Pécsi Tudományegyetem
Henzi, S. Peter
South Africa, Durban
University of Kwazulu-natal
Soler, Manuel
Spain, Granada
Universidad de Granada
Szwed, Anita
Poland, Wroclaw
Institute of Anthropology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Statistics
Citations: 429
Authors: 12
Affiliations: 10
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/S1090-5138(00)00029-5
ISSN:
10905138
Research Areas
Maternal And Child Health
Sexual And Reproductive Health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Locations
South Africa
Participants Gender
Male
Female