The depth of the lingual fossa in permanent maxillary incisors of East Greenland Eskimos. I. Statistical distribution and fluctuating dental asymmetry.

Maxillary incisor lingual fossa depth was measured in East Greenland Eskimos. It was shown that the statistical distribution for the trait may vary from population to population, from tooth type to tooth type and between the sexes. Examination of statistical distribution should be a part of studies giving detailed statistical analysis of trait. The statistical distribution is probably compatible with a hypothesis of polygenic inheritance. The correlations across the midline were higher for I1 than for I2, and I1 to I2 correlations were lower than across midline correlations for both I1 and I2. It was shown that the degree of fluctuating asymmetry may vary from one dental trait to another. For lingual fossa depth no population variation in fluctuating asymmetry could be demonstrated, in spite of obvious differences in environmental conditions for the populations compared. No sex differences in fluctuating asymmetry were found.