Digit Ratio: A Pointer to Fertility, Behavior, and Health

Archives of Sexual Behavior,  December, 2003  by Richard A. Lippa

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By John T. Manning. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2002, 173 pp., $27.00 (paper), $65.00 (hardcover).

Recently, researchers have explored the correlates of early hormone exposure in humans by assessing physical "markers" thought to be associated with prenatal hormones. Among the studied markers are dermatoglyphics (fingerprint ridge patterns), otoacoustic emissions (faint sounds emitted by the inner ear), waist-to-hip ratios, and 2D:4D (index finger to ring finger) finger-length ratios. In this volume, Manning proposes that 2D:4D digit ratios can serve as a "window" to early hormone exposure. If his claim is true, then exciting new research may ...