[Plantar zygodactylous triradii in a population comparison]

The plantar prints of 125 male Japanese were examined with regard to the frequencies of zygodactylous triradii and their expression types. Comparing the results with those of 500 males Viennese the two samples proved to be significantly different. The differences amount to such an extent that even by enlarging the Japanese sample no fundamental changes in the relations between the two populations might be expected. In Japanese the medium expression occurs in very low frequencies and the strong one not at all, while Europeans show those traits in about 60%. Comparing the pattern types characteristic for zygodactylous triradii, the Japanese revealed almost no proximal loops in the second and almost no whorls in the third interdigital area whereas Viennese showed high frequencies of both types. The findings of a sample of Angolan Bantus as well as those of a German one differ from the Japanese in the same way as the Viennese. It was observed that the line connecting the distal ends of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th toes is formed rather transversally in Japanese, while it is declining towards the 5th toe in Europeans and in Bantus. It requires further studies to prove if there exists a relation between this anatomical trait and the occurrence of zygodactylous triradii.