Abstract
SUMMARY: Kendall has shown how the shape variables of a labelled triangle can be mapped to a point on a sphere. Using Mardia and Dryden's method, we obtain the shape distribution of triangles under Bookstein's model. Various properties are discussed and in particular we show that this distribution, transformed to the sphere, is approximately the Fisher distribution. In particular, we examine the reduction of this distribution when the shape space is reduced to a subset of the sphere. Some practical examples are given, and the hypothesis of central place theory for a geographical data set is reassessed.

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