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Assortative mating for colour in Indian populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Sarla Banerjee
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India

Summary

Skin colour is measured at the inner upper arm and forehead by reflectance spectrophotometry in 310 Punjabi Hindu spouse pairs. It suggests genetic similarity of the two subcastes Khatri and Arora, of Punjabi Hindus, and that caste formation is essentially a social phenomenon. There is evidence of positive assortative mating with respect to skin colour.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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