Description:
Gracile Sudanid variety, named after the country of Senegal, where it is found in its purest form among Wolof, more mixed in Serer. Occasionally in Fulani, Mande speakers, and across the Sahel zone. Connections to Fulani are much stronger than for other Sudanid varieties, some Ethiopid influence is possible.Physical Traits:
Black skin, even darker than other Sudanids. Often kinky, sometimes tight-curly hair. Tall, (hyper-)brachyskelic, ectomorph to mesomorph. Dolichocephalic, orthocranic with more gracile facial features than other Sudanids, narrower and smaller faces. (Mildly) platyrrhine nose. The hands are big, body hair extremely weak. Prognathy pronounced.Literature:
The type was named Senegalid by Lundman (1952, 1967), who regarded it as a Sudanid subtype. Vallois (1950,1951) describes it as type or sous-race "sénégalais". Often included in Sudanid, or even regarded as a typical representative (Eickstedt, 1934; Biasutti, 1967; Vallois, 1971), sometimes due to the very dark pigmentation of Wolof (Alcobé y Noguer, 1952). Early investigations by Chantre (1917).
