BIODIVERSITY OF SOUTH-AMERICAN INDIANS - A COLLATION OF MULTIFACTORIAL AND SINGLE-GENE MARKER SYSTEMS BETWEEN ANDEAN AND TROPICAL FOREST TRIBES

This article represents an effort to summarize very briefly some of th e main findings obtained during 25 years of work among South American Indian populations. Patterns of variation of multifactorial traits suc h as dental traits, dermatoglyphics, anthropometrics and craniometrics , as well as migration data and single marker gene loci variation, are examined. Whenever possible, results obtained in Andean groups are co mpared with similar findings derived from tropical forest Indian data. It is concluded that the differences in magnitude of genetic variatio n encountered are ultimately the result of different cultural adaptati ons to regional environmental conditions.