DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2022.v10i11.011

Pages: 1884-1886

Background: In documenting anthropological characteristics of a population, the earlobe attachment is one of the anthropological parameters that is considered. Indigenous populations in Nigeria have had some of their anthropological features documented. Hence, this study was aimed at determining the distribution of earlobe attachment among the Kalabari people of Southern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The study was descriptive and cross-sectional which involved a total of 1342 subjects which comprised 671 males and 671 females who were sampled conveniently. The participants were all from Kalabari ethnic group in Rivers State (south-south) Nigeria. All subjects included in the study were indigenes of the Kalabari extraction, participants who had distortions or any form of structural anomaly of the external ear were excluded. Results and Discussions: The distribution of earlobe attachment based on gender and total population showed thus: males [free 390(58.1%), attached 281(41.9%), total 671(100.0%)]; females [free 407(60.6%), attached 290(39.4%), total 671(100.0%)]; Total population gave thus [free 797(59.4%), attached 571(40.6%), total 1,342(100.0%)]. Conclusion: The attached and detached (free) earlobes were both more frequent in the females than the males. In general, the ratio of free (detached) and attached is 8:6. The study revealed that free (detached) earlobe was more frequently distributed than the attached among the Kalabari people. Keywords: Earlobe, Attached, Detached/free, Kalabari, Nigeria.