Biodiversity of South American Indians. A collation of multifactorial and single gene marker systems between Andean and tropical forest tribes

This article represents an effort to summarize very briefly some of the main findings obtained during 25 years of work among South American Indian populations. Patterns of variation of multifactorial traits such as dental traits, dermatoglyphics, anthropometrics and craniometrics, as well as migration data and single marker gene loci variation, are examined. Whenever possible, results obtained in Andean groups are compared with similar findings derived from tropical forest Indian data. It is concluded that the differences in magnitude of genetic variation encountered are ultimately the result of different cultural adaptations to regional environmental conditions.