Digit ratio (2D:4D) and handgrip strength in subjects of Han ethnicity: Impact of sex and age

• Published in: American journal of physical anthropology Vol. 149; no. 2; pp. 266 - 271
• Main Authors: Zhao, Dapeng, Li, Baoguo, Yu, Keli, Zheng, Lianbin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.10.2012; Wiley-Liss; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: 2D:4D; Adult; Age Factors; Case studies; China; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Ethnology; Female; Fingers - anatomy & histology; Han ethnicity; Hand Strength; handgrip strength; Hormones; Human ecology, environment; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Morphological source materials; Mountains; Physical anthropology; Physical anthropology, ethnobiology; Sex Characteristics; Sex differentiation; sexual dimorphism; Statistics, Nonparametric; Age; China; Eastern Asia; Ethnicity; Ethnobiology; Han ethnicity; Han; handgrip strength; Sex; 2D:4D; Sexual dimorphism; Population genetics; Impact analysis
• ISSN: 0002-9483; 1096-8644; 1096-8644; 2692-7691
• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22130

The ratio of the length of the second finger to the fourth finger (2D:4D) is considered to be a putative proxy of prenatal exposure to testosterone, and has been increasingly used as a promising tool to evaluate the impact of prenatal androgenization in humans in such traits as physical performance. In this study, for the first time, we present 2D:4D data on adult participants of Han ethnicity. We consider the sexual dimorphism of 2D:4D and handgrip strength, and also report the relationship between 2D:4D and handgrip strength of males and females. The sample consisted of 54 males and 55 females recruited from a remote village in the Qinling Mountains, China. We found sexual dimorphism of both 2D:4D and handgrip strength, i.e., males had lower 2D:4D and right‐left 2D:4D than females and greater handgrip strength than females. There was a sex‐specific correlation between 2D:4D and handgrip strength, i.e., 2D:4D in the right hand was negatively correlated with handgrip strength in males but not in females. This relationship may be driven by sexual selection operating on fetal programming. Am J Phys Anthropol 149:266–271, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.