Dermatoglyphic Distances Between Israeli Jewish Population Groups of Different Geographic Extraction

The present study concerns the dermatoglyphics of Israeli Jews, males and females, of East European, Middle Eastern, North African and Yemenite extraction. Four non-correlated or little correlated dermatoglyphic traits, namely, the pattern inten­sity index, the main line index, the frequency of patterns in the hypothenar area and the frequency of subdigital and accessory triradii were used to calculate dis­tance coefficients and to perform cluster analyses, using also analogous literature data on Caucasoids, Mongoloids and Negroids. Our cluster analyses point to the dermatoglyphic proximity between the East European, Middle Eastern and North African Jewish groups, with the non-Jewish Caucasoid groups from Middle Asia and the Caucasus interposed between them. Near these groups we find the East European Caucasoid group, while the Yemenite Jews, the Mongoloids and the Negroids are at a distance. The cluster diagrams showed similarity to those derived from gene frequencies and skin color data for analogous groups, thus indicating that judiciously selected dermatoglyphic traits are suitable for calculating interpopulation distance coefficients