Sex Differences in the Inheritance of Some Anthropometric Characters in Twins

Abstract

Biometrical genetical techniques have been applied to the analysis of certain anthropometric characters measured in 134 pairs of adult twins. After allowing for assortative mating it appears that there is a family environment (E₂) component for variation in height larger than previously reported. “Fatness” traits – weight, ponderal index, and skinfold thickness – all show higher heritabilities in males and substantial E₂components in females, and reasons for this are discussed. The same is true for cephalic index and forearm length but the reason for these differences is not so obvious. Head length shows a much higher heritability than head breadth. A larger sample of DZ opposite-sex pairs would allow more powerful discrimination, but the variety of patterns of variation revealed by the model-fitting approach used here justify its use over more traditional techniques.