Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Submission Preview

Link to Story

Ancestral Background Can Be Determined by Fingerprints

Accepted submission by Phoenix666 at 2015-10-05 12:59:57
Science

Anthropologists have looked at fingerprints for years, because they are interested in human variation. But this research has looked at Level 1 details, such as pattern types and ridge counts. Forensic fingerprint analysis, which is used in criminal justice contexts, looks at Level 2 details – the more specific variations, such as bifurcations, where a fingerprint ridge splits.

For this study, researchers looked at Level 1 and Level 2 details of right index-finger fingerprints for 243 individuals: 61 African American women; 61 African American men; 61 European American women; and 60 European American men. The fingerprints were analyzed to determine whether there were patterns that were specific to either sex or ancestral background.

The researchers found no significant differences between men and women, but did find significant differences in the Level 2 details of fingerprints [phys.org] between people of European American and African American ancestry.


Original Submission