Variabilité du nombre de crêtes par doigt chez des sujets belges

Summary. Simple numbers of dermal ridges on the ten fingers, whose sum makes total ridge-count, and double numbers, whose sum constitutes absolute ridge-count, are studied in 202 Belgian men and 158 Belgian women. Means for double numbers are higher than for simple numbers. The distributions of double numbers are the same as those of simple numbers in the smaller values but spread in higher values. Correlation coefficients between the fingers have about the same value for simple and double numbers. Correlations between simple and double numbers of the same finger reach .81 to .94. Total finger ridge-count is highly correlated with absolute ridge-count (r = .94 for males and .95 for females). Compared with data from the literature for the simple numbers and their correlations, and for total ridge-count, the sample situates in the European variation, with the classical biological features such as higher means in males, means decreasing from I-IV-V-III-II for both hands of both sexes, highest variability for II and smallest for V. Data are too scarce for absolute ridge-count to allow for comparisons. Total ridge-count does not cope with the complexity of digital prints, allowing probably too much weight to some factors and obliterating others. Absolute ridge-count does not seem to clarify the problem, the two counts being highly correlated. The authors intend trying to detect more general traits by a multivariate approach in another paper.Résumé. Les nombres simples de crêtes sur les dix doigts dont la somme constitue le nombre individuel de crêtes digitales (total ridge-count) et les nombres doubles dont la somme forme le nombre absolu de crêtes digitales (absolute ridge-count) sont étudiés chez 202 hommes et 158 femmes belges. Les moyennes, les distributions, les coefficients de corrélation entre doigts et entre les deux nombres sont comparés entre eux et avec les résultats obtenus pour d'autres populations européennes.Vrydagh-Laoureux Stana, Leguèbe André. Variabilité du nombre de crêtes par doigt chez des sujets belges. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, XIII° Série. Tome 3 fascicule 2, 1976. pp. 91-104