Sexual Dimorphism in Finger Ridge Breadth Measurements: A Tool for Sex Estimation from Fingerprints. Issue 4 (19th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mundorff, Amy Z.; Bartelink, Eric J.; Murad, Turhon A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of forensic sciences. Volume 59:Issue 4(2014)
• Page Start: 891
• Page End: 897
• Publication Date: 2014-02-19
• Subjects: Medical jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Forensic sciences -- Periodicals; Forensic Medicine -- Periodicals; Gerechtelijke geneeskunde; Gerechtelijke chemie; Gerechtelijke psychiatrie; 363.2505
• DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.12449
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1198

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jfo12449-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Previous research has demonstrated significant sexual dimorphism in friction ridge skin characteristics. This study uses a novel method for measuring sexual dimorphism in finger ridge breadths to evaluate its utility as a sex estimation method from an unknown fingerprint. Beginning and ending in a valley, the width of ten parallel ridges with no obstructions or minutia was measured in a sample of 250 males and females (<italic>N</italic> = 500). The results demonstrate statistically significant differences in ridge breadth between males and females (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), with classification accuracy for each digit varying from 83.2% to 89.3%. Classification accuracy for the pooled finger samples was 83.9% for the right hand and 86.2% for the left hand, which is applicable for cases where the digit number cannot be determined. Weight, stature, and to a lesser degree body mass index also significantly correlate with ridge breadth and account for the degree of overlap between males and females.</p> </abstract>