Forensic Biotechnology

Graduate Level Course

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 Dactylography
Dactylus- Finger; Graphy- a way of writing/process of recording

The study of fingerprints as a method of identification.

FINGERPRINTS are unique pattern made by friction ridges (hill) and furrows
(valley), which appear on the pads of the finger and thumb. OR

FINGERPRINT is an impression of the friction ridges and furrows of all or

any part of the finger or thumb. OR

FINGERPRINTS are a replica of friction skin ridges and furrows found on the
palmer surface of the fingers and thumbs.
 History of fingerprinting
•The first systematic attempt at personal identification was devised by a French police
expert, Alphonse Bertillion.

•The Bertillion system relied on a detailed description of the subject, combined with
full length and profile photographs and a system of precise body measurements called
anthropometry.

•In 1880 Henry Fauld used fingerprints to identify a criminal

•In 1892 Francis Galton published his classic textbook Finger Prints. At Galton’s
insistence, the British government adopted fingerprinting as a supplement to the
Bertillion system.

•The next step was the creation of classification systems capable of filing many
thousands of prints in a logical and searchable sequence.
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 Francis Galton (1822-1911)
• “Father of Fingerprinting”
• Developed fingerprinting as a way to uniquely identify individuals.
 Sir Edward Richard Henry (1896)
• Inspector General of Police for the Lower Provinces in
Bengal.

• Went before an inquiry committee to convince them to

change to fingerprinting criminals instead of using the
Bertillon Method.

• created the modern system of a ten card fingerprint record

that was based upon the patterns of “arch”, “whorl”, or
“loop”.

• Published the book The Classification and Use of

Fingerprints.
 FINGERPRIINT DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

Azizul Haque and Hem Chandra Bose were the two Indian
fingerprint experts credited with primary development of the
Henry TEN DIGIT FINGERPRINT CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM (named for their supervisor, Edward Richard
Henry).

World's first Fingerprint Bureau was established in Calcutta

(now Kolkata) in 1897.

World's Largest Fingerprint Database- Unique Identification

Authority of India (2016)
 Principles
Fingerprints follow 3 fundamental principles:
Individual characteristics -
no two fingers have identical ridge characteristics
Remain unchanged pattern during Life Time
General ridge patterns permit systematic classification
The koala is one of the few mammals (other than primates) that has
fingerprints. In fact, koala fingerprints are remarkably similar to
human fingerprints; even with an electron microscope, it can be quite
difficult to distinguish between the two.

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BASICS OF FINGERPRINT
PATTERNS
Terminology
 PATTERN AREA

PATTERN AREA includes the CORE, DELTA, and RIDGES

PATTERN
AREA

T
 TYPELINES

The two innermost ridges that are parallel and surround or tend to
surround the pattern area.

T
T

T
T
 Delta
The delta is that point on a ridge at or in
front of and nearest the center of the
divergence of the
type lines.
It may be:
● A bifurcation
● An abrupt ending ridge
● A dot
● A short ridge
● A meeting of two ridges
 Types of Delta

DOT
MEETING
OF TWO
RIDGES

BIFURCATION
SHORT
RIDGE

ENDING
RECURVING RIDGE
RIDGE
 CORE
The approximate center of the pattern placed upon or within the innermost sufficient
recurve.
Located on the shoulders of the innermost loop farthest from the delta.

CORE CORE CORE CORE

Minutiae— Ridge Characteristics
characteristics of
ridge patterns
Identity, number,
and relative
location
As many as 150
minutiae on the
average finger
Ridge Characteristics in Fingerprint
 Fingerprint Classification
Three basic types of fingerprints:
Loops (2/3’rds of population have
loops)
Radial
Ulnar

Arches
Plain
Tented

Whorls (almost 1/3’rd of population has

whorls)
Plain
Composite
Double Loop
Central Pocket Loop
Accidental
 Fingerprint Factoid:
60% of people have loops,
35% have whorls,
and 5% have arches

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 Loops Left
most common type Hand

A loop must have one or more ridges entering from one side of the
print, recurving, and exit from the same side.
Loops must have one delta and one or more ridges that enter and
leave on the same side.
Ulna
Radius
ULNAR LOOP - opens toward little finger
RADIAL LOOP - opens toward thumb

Delta

L – Radial Loop L – Ulnar Loop

R - Ulnar Loop R - Radial Loop
 Arches
Least common of three general patterns
Arches are the simplest type of fingerprints that are formed by ridges that enter on one
side of the print and exit on the other. No deltas are present. Spike or “tent”

Plain Arch Tented Arches

Ridges enter on one side and Similar to the plain arch,
exit on the other side. but has a spike in the center.
Wave like Pattern Spike like Pattern
 Whorls
Whorls have at least one ridge that makes (or tends to make) a complete circuit. They
also have at least two deltas. If a print has more than two deltas, it is most likely an
accidental.

Plain Whorl Central Pocket Whorl

Draw a line between the two deltas in the plain and central pocket whorls. If some of the
curved ridges touch the line, it is a plain whorl. If none of the center core touches the
line, it is a central pocket whorl.
 Whorls – Part 2
Double Loop Whorl Accidental Whorl

Delta

Delta
Accidental whorls contain two or more patterns
Double loop whorls are made up of any (not including the plain arch), or does not
two loops combined into one print. clearly fall under any of the other categories.
Identify each fingerprint pattern.

Left Hand Right Hand

Right Hand

Right Hand Left Hand