Modelling fingerprint pattern inheritance.

Abstract

The authors compare some genetic triallelic models for finger-print pattern inheritance built according to the Galton classification. These models keep at the same time into account the available information on fingerprints: population frequencies for individuals, matchings in couples of MZ-twins and in families composed of parents and their offspring. For every finger, on the basis of the data for individuals and twins, the probabilities of the genotypic population frequencies and a penetrance value are evaluated as parameters of a support (likelihood) function for each model. Then, by utilizing the data on families, the support given to the proposed models is evaluated. Finally, the support of the alternative models is synoptically considered for comparative purposes. In the present paper these models are tried with reliable data, collected and classified by Alciati and Folin, of the Institute of Anthropology of the University of Padua. The results substantially agree with the hypotheses formulated by other authors who did not utilize statistical models.