Polydactylism in the DR

Auryn

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Apr 22, 2012
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There is a thread from 2005 that brought this up, but it only had 3 responses. The thread discussing the Taino DNA results of ancestry.com etc. got me thinking about it again. Genetics is an interest of mine and I've always been curious about this specific topic.

There is a large amount of people that I have encountered in the DR with polydactylism (extra digits). By a large amount, I would say about 20? people since I have volunteered, worked and visited over the past five or so years. I definitely haven't encountered as many individuals with extra digits in other places, but that is mostly based on travel to colder countries where it might not be as apparent.

My initial experience was in Cabarete when I volunteered there several years ago. A Haitian boy I worked with had been born with tiny extra fingers on both hands. A group of American doctors had removed the one on his right hand early on, but after discussion with her community, the mother decided that it was not a good idea to remove the other.

Since then, I have come across what I would consider a high number people with polydactylism. I haven't encountered it elsewhere in the Caribbean, but then I haven't spent as much time in other Caribbean countries as I have in the DR. I know a woman from San Pedro, originally from Antigua, who has 12 fingers and 12 toes. She told me she knows at least a dozen people with polydactylism that she isn't related to, and that it's just widely accepted. She didn't say anything about the extra digits being "lucky", as was mentioned in the old thread.

There is higher frequency of polydactylism in certain ethnic groups; for example it is prevalent a tribe in Ecuador. But the genetics can get somewhat complicated, as the link I will include explains. It can also be an indicator of a larger syndrome, as present in a certain Amish group.

http://http://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/polydactyly

Is anyone aware of studies on this topic that are specific to the Dominican Republic or Haiti?
 

bob saunders

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We have a teacher that has an extra digit on one hand but it is partial and without a bone. I have seen several others here with a complete extra digit.
 

AlterEgo

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Interesting, I’ve never seen that here, but just asked my husband and he said he’s seen many. Like Bob mentioned, he thinks the ones he’s seen are without bones. 
 

oriole100

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Please don't take this wrong. Ask Bob. It is Genc. Has to do mostly with inbreeding . Happens. There is a island in Maryland where most of the people have 6 fingers. I'm not a Doc. but I'm sure someone here can explain. Just what I know. I'm possibly wrong, ask my wife,
 

chico bill

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Weren't they teasing Obama's artist for his Presidential Portrait showing an extra finger ?
 

Auryn

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I have seen both with and without bones.  Of course a small gene pool could be assumed, but I suppose my main question is whether anyone is aware of actual studies?  Or even cultural beliefs?  

The Haitian boy’s mother was about 19, and had stopped going to school at age 8. I definitely got the impression in speaking to her that she felt a there was a certain...supernatural element to the extra digit. I didn’t probe, but she said she felt as though she was pressured to have the first finger removed and it was a mistake.  

The woman in San Pedro was not educated either, but I have have spoken to her on more than one occasion and she has never given the impression that her extra digits are mystical or magical in any sense. 
 

cbmitch9

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One of my brothers has an extra finger. We are not from DR but from the Caribbean. I have seen a few but not in DR.
 

caribmike

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There is a cashier in a supermarket, she has on each hand an extra, rudimentary finger attached only by flesh or skin to the middle part of each of her pinky fingers (not to the rest of her hands) including nails (which get painted). Somewhat irritating but here you get used to many things. :D In another country you would have let it remove or it would have been removed when still an infant.
 

william webster

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To be light for a minute 

This can be a variation of

Many hands make light work....

Think about it
Counting past 10.....

Kidding.....kidding 
 

GringoRubio

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Please don't take this wrong. Ask Bob. It is Genc. Has to do mostly with inbreeding . Happens. There is a island in Maryland where most of the people have 6 fingers. I'm not a Doc. but I'm sure someone here can explain. Just what I know. I'm possibly wrong, ask my wife,

Inbreeding exposes recessive traits, but polydactylism is a dominate trait. It's unrelated to any alleged inbreeding.
 

Auryn

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Inbreeding exposes recessive traits, but polydactylism is a dominate trait. It's unrelated to any alleged inbreeding.

The link doesn't work, so I'll try again. It states polydactylism is actually recessive, but this isn't imperative to it's prominence. Lactose intolerance is recessive and much more common in populations than dwarfism, which is dominant.

genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/polydactyly

It could still be prevalent from inbreeding, but I also think the eldia article that dv8 posted is onto something as well. Whether genetic, the result of a small gene pool, or environmental, it is certainly interesting.
 

Auryn

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There is a cashier in a supermarket, she has on each hand an extra, rudimentary finger attached only by flesh or skin to the middle part of each of her pinky fingers (not to the rest of her hands) including nails (which get painted). Somewhat irritating but here you get used to many things. :D In another country you would have let it remove or it would have been removed when still an infant.

My reaction to the Haitian boy's extra finger was also based on my worldview, and I thought it absolutely bizarre that his mother wanted him to keep it. I went so far as to ask questions to a friend in Canada who works with the War Amps. It did not have a bone and would have been very simple to remove, much like the cashier you describe. I have since wondered if it is a cultural thing, or lack of medical access? Probably both in some aspect or another.