A PHENOTYPIC ANALYSIS OF TONGUE ROLLING, TONGUE FOLDING AND CERUMEN TYPE TRAITS IN A POPULATION OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA

Variations occur in humans and this is usually as a result of several factors which are of great value from physical anthropological window especially in studying population variation and human diversity. This study investigated variations in cerumen type, tongue rolling and tongue folding abilities of pre-service teachers. One hundred and thirty-two students took part in the study. The tongue and ear wax type were observed and examined physically thus classifying subjects into rollers/none-rollers, folders/none-folders and dry or wet cerumen type. The frequency of folders (111) and rollers (98) were more common than non-folders (21) and non-rollers (34). The frequency of rollers-folders was observed to be highest in both males and females (63 and 8) respectively. A relationship exist between the ability to roll the tongue and the ability to fold the tongue. This study therefore provides data on the distribution of tongue rollers, tongue folders and variability in cerumen type. This data can be used to investigate the diversity that arises within and among different populations due to genetic diversity.