"a dermatoglyphic study of iranaian muslims part i: finger patterns and ridge-counts "

finger patterns and ridge-counts in a random sample of iranian muslims consisting of 100 males and 100 females are described. the most common finger patterns found were loops, having a frequency of 54.4% u.l., 3.4% r.l. in males and 51.2% u.l. and 4.8% r.l in females. the frequencies of arches and whorls in both sexes were 4% and 38.5% respectively. bimanual and sex differences were indistinct. a pattern type index of 11.85 and a pattern intensity index of 13.39 were found in both sexes combined. the mean total finger ridge-count observed is 166.54 in males and 160.93 in females. a significant sex difference of mean ridge-count was observed for digit numbers l3, l4, r2 and also for the total finger ridge-count with regard to bimanual difference for digit 2 in males and for digit 3 in females. the interpretation of the noted observations is discussed.