Heritability of body measurements among the Jalari population in Visakhapatnam

Abstract

A total of 436 Jalari families, a fishing caste population of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India, are surveyed for thirteen anthropometric measurements. Heritability coefficients (h2) of these anthropometric measurements are calculated using Fisher (1918) and Penrose (1971) formulae. The longitudinal measurements record highest heritability coefficients followed by breadth measurements and circumferences. The heritability coefficients of all the measurements, calculated by using Penrose's method show relatively higher values than Fisher's method.