Dermatoglyphics in Twins

Abstract

Summary The degree of genetic determination of 4 digital and 16 palmar characteristics was investigated in an unselected series of 49 MZ and 51 DZ adult twins. Low indications of heritability were obtained for the qualitative traits, but 6 of the 8 h 2 estimates calculated for the quantitative measurements gave values above 0.70. In general, the results reported here are in agreement with those presented by other authors; however, the correlation coefficients observed for the A′d ridge count were lower than those of two other series. All palmar ridge counts seemed to be intercorrelated in a given individual; other expected relationships, however, were not observed. The fingerprints of MZ and DZ twins on the other hand, showed an unexplained difference.