Genetic and environmental influences on morphological characteristics

Study has been made of 37 anthropometric measurements in a socially selected sample of 125 Belgian families, comprising parents and adult children. The parent-child and mid-parent-child correlation coefficients indicate that the extent of genetic determination varies considerably from one measurement to another, being greatest in the longitudinal body measurements, least in the circumferences involving soft tissues and in measures of the nose and mouth. Further analysis of the intrafamilial correlation, and variance analysis by the method of Fisher and Gray (1937), shows that neither dominant nor X-linked loci exert any appreciable effects.