Variations on dermal ridges in nine population groups of Maharashtra, India. I. Intra- and interpopulation diversity

From rolled fingerprints of 646 males belonging to nine endogamous groups of Maharashtra, India, the intra- and interpopulation variability is studied by considering three traits: total finger ridge count (TFRC), absolute total finger ridge count (ATFRC) and finger pattern intensity index (FPII). Complete distributions are reported for the three major clusters: five caste Hindus, three tribes, and the Parsees. Dermatoglyphic distances computed by Mahalanobis' D2 are compared with genetic distances.