New Studies on the Heritability of Anthropometric Characteristics as Ascertained From Twins

Abstract

SummarySixteen anthropometric measurements were performed on each of 48 MZ and 51 DZ adult twin pairs. The largest amount of diversity between MZ and DZ was observed in relation to stature which was in average about three-and-a half times more different in the latter. Forehead and nasal height were also three times more variable among DZ twins, while head and nasal breadth, morphological face height, and lip thickness were twice as variable. The heritability estimates and F ratios yielded significant values in both sexes for twelve traits. The exceptions were mandibular and minimum frontal breadth, calf and chest circumference. The largest heritabilities were observed for stature, head breadth and lip thickness. Correlation matrices were obtained for all measurements; those showing significantly positive coefficients, however, did not show similar heritability values.