Termination Patterns of the Palmar C – Line in Nigerian Populations: A Comparative Study of Two Groups

The pattern of alignment, direction and orientation of dermal ridges on the palms are morphologic indices which are used to study interpopulation affinities and diversities. The population relationships these variables suggest of the tribes inhabiting the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria are unknown to any extent. The objective of this study was to examine the extent of resemblance between the Ijaw and the Ogoni tribes, two prominent tribes of the region, in the termination patterns of the palmar C - line. The study revealed that in both tribes, there were no radial terminations of the C - line. Among the Ijaw, ulnar termination was the most common termination pattern, but among the Ogoni, proximal termination was the most predominant (p>0.05). A low incidence of missing c - triradius was noted among the Ogoni as compared to the Ijaw; and only in absent termination pattern was a significant sex difference seen across both populations. The study has indicated that though geographically close, these two population groups are distinct in the termination patterns of the palmar C-line. The study also validate the routine inclusion of data on the termination pattern of the C-line in dermatoglyphic studies in Nigerian and other African populations, which hitherto is not the practice