Sex differences in the thumbprint ridge density in a central Indian population

Abstract

Background: Identification of sex plays a vital role in forensic and medico legal investigations. Fingerprints are considered to be the most precise and reliable indicators for personal and gender identification. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine any significant difference in the thumbprint ridge density of males and females in a central Indian (Marathi) population to enable the determination of gender. Methods and materials: The study was conducted on 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females) in the age group of 18-30 years. Ridge densities on the right-and left-hand thumbprints were determined using a newly designed layout and analysed statistically. Results: The results showed that females tend to have a higher thumbprint ridge density in both the areas examined, individually and combined. Applying the t-test, the differences in the ridge densities of males and females at LoC (Left of Centre), RoC (Right of Centre) and Combined (LoC + RoC) were found to be statistically significant at p < 0.01 levels, proving the association between gender and fingerprint ridge density. Probability densities for men and women derived from the frequency distribution (at LoC, RoC and Combined) were used to calculate the likelihood ratio and posterior probabilities of gender designation for the given ridge count for subjects using Baye's theorem. Conclusion: It was concluded that differences in the thumb ridge density can be used as an important tool for the determination of gender in cases where partial thumbprints are encountered as evidence either at the crime scene or on any document(s) of forensic significance. ª 2014 Hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The International Association of Law and Forensic Sciences (IALFS).

Gender identification from thumbprint ridge thickness among <i>Hausa</i> population of <i>Nigeria</i> using likelihood ratio and posterior probability density

“…Compared to other population (Cummins, 1941), the ridges observed in the current study were thicker. This is in keeping with the previous studies on the ridge density, where Africans, Hausa ethnic group (Adamu et al, 2016) and Sudanese (Ahmed and Osman, 2016) were observed to have lower ridge density compared to Argentinians, Spaniards and central Indians (Gutie´rrez-Redomero et al, 2008;Kapoor and Badiye, 2015;Rivalderia et al, 2016). This led to the suggestion that lower ridge density was more an indicator of African descent (Adamu et al, 2016).…”

“…In addition to the use of fingerprints within the forensic community for many decades, their persistence and biological uniqueness allow them to be used for identification of victims of mass disasters when traditional identification becomes difficult or other anthropometric methods are not feasible (Krishan et al, 2013;Rivalderia et al, 2016). Previous studies have dealt with features such as minutiae (Stoney and Thornton, 1986;Gutierrez-Redomero et al, 2007;Reinart, 2014;Adamu et al, 2017), ridge density (Gutierrez-Redomero et al, 2013;Kapoor and Badiye, 2015;Adamu et al, 2016;Rivalderia et al, 2016), epidermal ridge width (Cseplák, 1982;Kamp et al, 1999;Králík et al, 2002) in connection with biological profile such as gender and age of an individual. The studies conducted by Adamu et al(2016) which predicted sex among same population using ridge density and thickness probably is the only study reported among Hausa ethnic group of Kano state, Nigeria.…”

Changes in Fingerprints Depending on Physiological Factors

“…This is due in part to the number and distribution of sweat ducts, with men having more of them, as well as to hormone metabolism . Moreover, according to Kapoor and Badiye , the friction ridge impression in men's fingerprints is usually as much as 10% wider. Examination of the questionnaires filled out in our research showed that the majority of women participating in the study, unlike the men, used emollients after washing their hands, which may explain the results.…”

Digital dermatoglyphics: A study on Muslim population from India

“…2 Fingerprints or friction ridges are the prime and infallible means of identification in forensic investigations and trials. 3 Unless a person is involved in an accident affecting their hands, the fingerprints remain unchanged during life time (except for growing in the size with age, proportionately to the growth of the individual). Even after almost over a century of existence, no two fingers have ever been found to possess identical ridge characteristics (minutiae).…”