Widow’s Peak

Rubén Mazo Jiménez 4ºB

Explanation of the trait

Widow’s peak is frequently used as an example of a dominant inherited trait and it is a V-shaped point in the hairline in the center of the forehead.

There are varying degrees of the peak. People who do not have a widow's peak have a hairline that runs straight across.

If we consider the whole population, we can distinguish that just a 27% have the trait . However, there could be different variations depending on the sex. For example, a study of women conducted by Nusbaum and Fuentefria in 2009 found that 81% had a widow's peak while Smith and Cohen's 1973 study on male medical students found that only 3% had widow's peaks.

As we can see in the following images, there are some examples of famous people who have widow’s peak.

Family treeMum’s family Dad’s family

Widow’s peak (Ww, WW)

Straight hairline (ww)

ww

Ww

W_

(ME)

The end