[Practical evaluation of some discriminant criteria for the dermatoglyphic diagnosis of twin zygosity].

In practice identical twins are sometimes to be distinguished from non identical on physical resemblance what is mainly subjective. Quantitative criterias combined into a simple formula would offer a quick, objective and practical tool. This brought us to elaborate a discriminant score based on numerical dermatoglyphic data either used alone or introduced into given mathematical expressions. To do so we retained 7 parameters or functions already utilized by other authors: total finger ridge count, a-d ridge count, generalized distance (delta 2) and discriminant functions, S, T, L and Z (see text). Other assays done when neglecting some of these parameters are easier to calculate but lead to less satisfactory discrimination between MZ and DZ twins.