Ecological study of dermatoglyphic diversity in fluorosis belt of Punjab, India

The present study is based on an ecological sample of finger ball dermatoglyphic patterns of 170 subjects (82 males and 88 females) collected from the Punjab fluorosis belt. For comparison, data on 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females) were collected from the nonfluorosis area. Finger ball patterns of all subjects were analyzed for various subtypes, major types, indices, symmetry, monomorphism and pleiotropism. In the fluorosis belt series, the results of the two sexes were compared; in the fluorosis vs. nonflurosis series comparison pertained to dermatoglyphic variables.