Dermatoglyphic relationships among South Amerindian populations

DEMARCHI DA, MARCELLINO AJ

HUMAN BIOLOGY

Wayne State University Press

Lugar: Detroit; Año: 1998 vol. 70 p. 579 - 596

0018-7143

            The  biological affinities among 17 South American aboriginal populations are examined by means of a multivariate analysis of their dermatoglyphic finger patterns. Different analytical methods utilized, cluster analysis, non‑metric multidimensional scaling, and multi‑response permutation procedure (from principal component based distances), reveal interpopulation relationships consistent with Loukotka's language classification. The Paleo‑American tribes from the Gran Chaco and Brazil share a high incidence of whorls as a distinctive feature. The Andean and Tropical Forest groups, which present a greater prevalence of arches and ulnar loops, appear closely related to each other suggesting a more recent common origin and/or substantial gene flow between them.