DERMATOGLYPHICS OF INHABITANTS OF ALBERCHE TORMES VALLEY (SIERRA DE GREDOS CENTRAL SPAIN) .1. FINGER PATTERN TYPES AND PATTERN INTENSITY/

The incidence of dermatoglyphic finger patterns and pattern intensity in a sample of school. children from the Alberche/Tormes valley (north ern slope of the Sierra de Gredos, Central Spain) are described. Signi ficant bilateral differences for the overall finger pattern incidence are found in both sexes. The differences between sexes are also statis tically significant, except for the left hand. The Pattern Intensity I ndex significantly differs between hands of males only, and the sex di fferences are not significant. Variation ranges for fingertip patterns and pattern intensity were constructed using published data of 69 mal e and 62 female series drawn from the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. The overall incidence of fingertip patterns and the Pattern Intensity Index locate the studied population near the middle of the correspondi ng variation ranges. The only exception is the case of arches, for whi ch Alberche/Tormes is close to the minimum value of the range of varia tion. A more detailed comparison of 10 male and 10 female series from the Spanish northern and southern plateaus and from the Spanish region of Extremadura was done with R-matrix analysis. The series compared i nclude those from the northern slope (Alberche/Tormes valley, this stu dy) and the southern slope (Tietar valley) of the Sierra de Gredos. Th e observed degree of dermatoglyphic differentiation between these two series may be explained by taking into account both the role of the Si erra de Gredos as a biological barrier limiting gene flow and the evol utionary stability of dermatoglyphics. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.