Abstract: This study analyzes the contour of facial profiles of the Sala ethnic group from Qinhai Province. The forehead of the Sala ethnic group has undergone small morphological variations, largely concentrated on the 7th and 8th landmarks. Areas around the nose, lips and chin are identified with relatively large variations. All of these features share affinities with the Tu ethnic group, however the two groups also differ in a number of ways. The Sala group has a much extruded and long forehead, a more intruded lips. The landmark area in forehead of the Sala group is larger and possibly suggests greater variations than in the Tu ethnic group. The cluster analysis shows that the major difference between the two Sala groups is reflected in the facial profile, which is similar to males of the Tu ethnic group. Allometric analysis indicates that the shapes of the facial profile are slightly impacted by their size. With an increase in CS (centriod size), variations of the forehead and the chin become more apparent. While the forehead becomes flatter, the chin is more intruded; as also seen in the Tu and Zang ethnic groups. In other words, those individuals with long faces tend to have flatter foreheads and less prominent chins.

Key words: Sala; Facial profile; Morphometrics; Physical traits