What does it mean if my baby has a simian line?

Answer 1

A simian line (or palmar crease) is a single line running horizontally across the palm of the hand, instead of the two that are usually featured in humans; the word comes from the fact that simians (or monkeys, apes, etc) have the same feature and is not in reference to the fact that we were "descended from apes" (nor is to be taken as proof of such either way).

Palmistry systems based in Europe are unused to accounting for such a palm, and so conventionally ascribe to them qualities of extreme intelligence (genius) or extreme sociopathology (insanity, criminals).

Japanese and Chinese palmists however, explain that those with the 'masusake' hand are of high repute and prone to be talented artists and scientists (genius).

The middle-of-the-road explanation is that it indicates a person who has a determined and "intense" personality that can focus on something very intently, and who might require a bit of extra care or attention(ie: Down's Syndrome, Bi-Polar Disorder, Autism, etc).

However, there is no hard proof that swings a definitive answer in either direction, and the simian line seems to be "just one of those things" that people have which makes them different from each other in certain ways; a lot of people even only have it on one hand, usually the left, oddly enough!

Although the presence of simian lines is apparantly higher among Native Americans and Asians, this does not seem to be a reliable indicator of having any sort of Native American or Asian lineage in your genetics...mostly because it is found in all cultures.

Health Considerations

Simian lines are featured among a significant number of people with Down syndrome and other disorders, such as Bi-Polar, Autism or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, etc, so without any other explanations, it might be a good idea to have your doctor check your baby for any symptoms...but remember that there are plenty of "healthy" people with simian lines (about 5% of European population has them).

Also note that from *my own* observations, and without deeper insights into the differing *types* of "simian lines", I've noticed that a lot of people who come up with an online search for "simian lines" don't actually *have* what I would consider a "true" simian line...more of a variant of one, if at all (ie: there's still a distinct second line, but small or faded, etc).