Morphologic Variations In External Ear Among Ethnic Meiteis: A Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The external ear is highly individualised in terms of its shape, size, and other morphological characteristics, making it a useful tool for forensic identification in determining sex and personal identification. These characteristics are believed to be controlled by multiple genes and shared among genetically related individuals. To describe the uniqueness and sexual differences in external ear morphology among the ethnic Meiteis, a cross-sectional study was conducted in the Clinical Section of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology from May 2022 to April 2024. The study included 422 ethnic Meiteis, and common characteristics observed in both sexes included an oval-shaped pinna in 35.38% of individuals, nodosity of Darwin's tubercle in 74.53%, medium-sized anti-tragus in 50.66%, arched shape of the lobule in 44.67%, and proportionate form of the concha in 74.10%. The tragus types were evenly distributed, with an average of 30% for each type. The shape of the helical fold differed between males and females, with 60.03% of males having a normally rolled shape and 62.16% of females having a wide covering scapha shape, with an average occurrence of 49.14%. There was no significant sexual difference in the external ear characteristics except for the helical fold. Regarding the uniqueness, most of the ethnic Meitei population exhibited the nodosity type of Darwin's tubercle, medium-sized anti-tragus, and proportionate form of the concha, accounting for more than half of the total study population.