1. Introduction
Predicting human physical abilities is critically important for professional orientation and the identification of individuals whose genotype - comprising both rigidly heritable traits and adaptive range - is suited to specific types of activity (Kaznacheev & Kaznacheev, 1986; Zaitseva, 1994; Nikityuk, 1985). The need for validated criteria of physical abilities is especially acute in domains where professional success depends on extreme expression of particular physical qualities.
The relationship between professional demands and individual diversity in physical abilities is most clearly manifested in elite sport. Rational athletic selection and directed long-term training lead to the objective identification of individuals whose physical abilities are adequate for specific sport specializations. However, the extraordinary level of modern competitive results, which entails extreme functioning of all bodily systems, demands the earliest possible prognostic assessment of an athlete's physical potential in order to minimize material, physical, and psychological costs (Tanner, 1964; Kuznetsov, 1976; Martirosov, 2000; Suzdalnitsky & Levando, 1995, 2003).
At the stage of early orientation and initial selection, genetically informed criteria enable the identification, with high probability, of individuals possessing activity-appropriate heritable traits and adaptive range (Schwartz, 1974-1988; Nikityuk, 1978). The optimization of selection and individualization of training methods rests upon the search for valid criteria for the early diagnosis of definitive phenotypic manifestations as the result of genotype-environment interactions (Volkov, 1974; Bril, 1980; Balsevich, 2000).
Currently, the most developed criteria in sport are those largely determined by ontogenetic stage or current fitness level: physique, psychological status, physical qualities, rates of growth and biological maturation (Bakhrakh, 1966; Kuznetsov, 1976; Dorokhov, 1979; Timakova, 1983, 1988; Rodionov, 1983; Bulgakova, 1986; Martirosov et al., 1985). Contemporary investigations of genetic criteria for physical abilities have addressed skeletal muscle fiber composition, blood biochemical markers, the HLA complex, Q-heterochromatin, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (Gollnick et al., 1972; Saltin et al., 1977; Nekrasov & Shenkman, 1989; Gerard et al., 1986; Kurmanova, 1988; Asanov, 1986; Solovenchuk, 1989; Montgomery et al., 1999; Rogozkin & Nazarov, 2000). However, owing to insufficient development, invasiveness, and complexity of determination, these criteria have not achieved wide practical application.
In recent decades, dermatoglyphic traits have been widely investigated as markers of diverse phenotypic manifestations. Dermatoglyphic features are predominantly genetically determined, form between the 3rd and 5th month of gestation, remain unchanged throughout ontogeny, and exhibit high structural diversity and both individual and group variability (Gladkova, 1966; Guseva, 1986). Certain dermatoglyphic features provide highly reliable (90-95%) prognostic information for genetic disorders and multiple developmental anomalies, as well as psychomotor and psycho-personal disturbances (Holt, 1968; Ritsner et al., 1971, 1972; Schaumann & Alter, 1976; Usoev, 1980; Guseva, 1986; Bogdanov, 1997).
Over 13 years, the Laboratory of Sports Anthropology, Morphology and Genetics at the All-Russian Research Institute of Physical Culture and Sports (VNIIFK) has studied finger dermatoglyphs as genetic markers associated with the predispositions underlying motor giftedness. A database has been compiled on finger dermatoglyphics in over 1,500 elite athletes across more than 20 sports, as well as in over 60 individuals (children and adults) with congenital motor impairments, and in non-athlete adults and youth at various developmental stages.