Sex Variation and Mongoloid Strainin Dermatoglyphic Patterns among the Rajbanshi, an Indigenous Communityof North Bengal

摘要

A study on sex differences and presence of a mongoloid strainusing dermatoglyphics was carried out among the Rajbanshi,the largest indigenous community of North Bengal. Finger andpalm prints were collected from 160 individuals (80 males and80 females) residing in Darjeeling of West Bengal, India. The re-sults indicate that ulnar loops were highest followed by whorls,arches and radial loops in the both sexes with significant sta-tistical (p<0.05) differences within and between the digits andbetween the sexes. Patten Intensity Index and Furuhata's Indexwere the highest among the males where as Dankmeijars Indexvalues are highest among females. All these indices show statis-tically significant differences (p<0.05) between both sexes. Themain line formula also shows statistically significant differencein both sexes. The mean atd angle shows values of 41.06° ±3.94 among males and 42.64° ± 4.49 among females and thesedifferences are statistically significant at 5% level. The meanof Total Finger Ridge Count and Absolute Finger Ridge Countwere highest in males than the females with significant statis-tical differences at 5% level. Hence, the study indicates thatthere are differences between sexes in different dermatoglyph-ics patterns. The results also show a suspicion of a mongoloidadmixture among the Rajbanshis based on the Patten IntensityIndex and Main Line Formula. Moreover the results were com-pared with the available data of other such populations of NorthEastern India. However, further studies are needed using otheranthropometrical and genetical parameters to ascertain thismongoloid admixture among the Rajbanshis.