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Heritability of deciduous tooth size in Australian aboriginals
Abstract:
The contributions of genetic and environmental influences to observed variabiliy of deciduous tooth size were quantified in a group of Australian aboriginals. Phenotypic variability was partitioned into four components; between sides, between fathers, between mothers, and between offspring. Results suggested that about 58% of deciduous tooth-size variability was due to additive genetic variance and 15% to common environmental variance. It appears that additive genetic variance is similar in both deciduous and permanent dentitions, but that common maternal effects are more important in determining deciduous tooth-size variability.
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