Finger dermatoglyphics of the Bagathas of Araku Valley (A. P.), India.

Finger prints of the Bagathas, a dominant endogamous tribal population of Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh (India) were analysed. They are distributed in Araku, Paderu and Chintapalli agency areas of Visakhapatnam district of A. P. Investigations on finger prints of 235 males and 235 females reveal that loops are higher in females (57.58 per cent) than in males (49.19 per cent). Sex differences in the distribution of the patterns are statistically significant (chi2 equal to 27.8277; d. f. equal to 2; 0.001 greater than P). The index of pattern intensity shows a higher value in males (14.17) than the females (12.84). It isevident from the mean ridge counts that there is a clear sexual dimorphism, males showing higher mean ridge counts than females. Bagathas show greater affinity with the Valmikis in the frequency distribution of pattern types and in the pattern intensity index. However, a more detailed dermatoglyphic study of all the tribes of Andhra Pradesh yields information of great value in disclosing the pattern distributions among these Dravidian or proto-Australoid tribal populations.