Dermatoglyphic traits in an Amish-Mennonite population in Ontario

Finger- and palmprints of 63 male and 63 female Amish-Mennonites were examined for evidence of an inbreeding effect. No significant deviations were found from the general pattern seen in other populations of similar origin in terms of distribution and frequency of palmar and digital patterns, the total ridge-count, the main-line index and the maximal atd angle. Reduced correlation coefficients are reported for both the total ridge-count and the main-line index. The possibility that these reduced correlations reflect an environmental effect is discussed.