Morphological aspects of male and female hands

A series of hand radiographs from Gwynedd, North Wales, was assessed for frequencies in digital and metacarpal formulae--the relative projection of the fingers and knuckles respectively. While the digital formula showed a sexual dimorphism, the metacarpal formula did not. Males showed a single most frequent digital formula (3 > 4 > 2 > 5 > 1: 69.6%) while females showed two almost equally frequent forms (3 > 2 > 4 > 5 > 1: 44.1%, 3 > 4 > 2 > 5 > 1: 42.3%). For the metacarpal formula, however, females showed a single most frequent form (2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 1: 53.1%) while males showed two almost equally frequent forms (2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 1: 40.6%, 3 > 2 > 4 > 5 > 1: 39.2%). Digital and metacarpal formulae are morphological variables which may also have functional significance in the understanding of how certain hand forms may be ill-fitted for certain tasks.