DERMATOGLYPHICS IX PRIMATES 



17 



idea of variations in prominence of pads may be gained by 

 inspection of figures 15-21 and 23-30 in the study by Schultz 

 ('31). In spite of such departures the existence of a common 

 systematic distribution of pads is clearly evident in a view 

 of the primates as a whole, and it is occasionally closely ap- 

 proached in a single genus (as in Aotus, figs. 1 and 2). 



Fig. 1 Aotus zonalis, right maims, about X 1. (From Schultz.) 

 Fig. 2 Aotus zonalis, right pes, about X 1. (From Schultz.) 



In our interpretation of the morphologic plan of the volar 

 pads we have been guided not only by direct observation of the 

 pads and their dermatoglyphic correlates in adult primates, 

 but also by the history of pads in the human fetus (Cummins, 

 '29), in the macaque (Schultz, '37 b), and in Tarsius (Hubrecht 

 and Keibel, '07). The embryologic considerations are reveal- 

 ing since in the fetus the pad arrangement is observed in a 

 primitive condition which may be obscured as development 

 proceeds. The pad elevations of the fetus, moreover, are of 



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