Palmar and digital dermatoglyphic traits of Kenyan and Tanzanian subjects

Dermatoglyphic traits, along with other morphological, molecular and biochemical markers have traditionally been used in biological anthropology to explore affinities and differences among human groups.

We carried out a cross-sectional study of healthy able-bodied volunteers of indigenous Kenyan and Tanzanian subjects to establish their palmar and digital dermatoglyphic traits, by counting and classifying their ridge pattern configurations of arches, loops, whorls and ridges based on standard techniques.

Ulnar loops were the most prevalent digital ridge patterns and arches were the least in our samples with significant sex differences exhibited in arches, ulnar loops and whorls (P < 0.05). Similarly, men had significantly higher TFRC than women in Kenyans (P < 0.001), while Tanzanians showed no sex difference (P < 0.5). Women, however, had higher PII than men in Kenyans but the reverse was true in Tanzanians. In both groups, men showed significantly higher mean a-b ridge counts than women (P < 0.001, Kenyans; < 0.01, Tanzanians), and women showed greater mean atd angles than men (P > 0.5). The TFRC, atd angle and a-b ridge count were significantly different between Kenyans and Tanzanians (P < 0.001).

This study documents probably for the first time the normal and comparative dermatoglyphic traits of two East African populations, indicating that Tanzanians are dermatoglyphically closer to Malawians than Kenyans.