Paper No. : 07 Forensic Anthropology Module : 15 Dermatoglyphics in Forensic Anthropology Development Team Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Principal Investigator Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Content Writer Richa Rohatgi Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Prof. R.K. Pathak Content Reviewer Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 1 Forensic Anthropology Anthropology Dermatoglyphics in Forensic Anthropology Description of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name 07 Forensic Anthropology Module Name/Title Dermatoglyphics In Forensic Anthropology Module Id 15 2 Forensic Anthropology Anthropology Dermatoglyphics in Forensic Anthropology Contents of this unit 15.1 Preface 15.2 Learning outcome 15.3 Introduction 15.4 Recording dermatoglyphics 15.5 Analysis and uses 15.6 Summary 15.1 Preface Dermatoglyphics was first applied in the pathological studies, later got extended to study violent criminals in the FBI. Because finger prints are genetic, one can identify the personality and potential of a person based on his/her 10 finger prints. Since each person fingerprints is unique, fingerprints are also used for personal identification purposes. And parents can also understand their children innate character and learning potential. Dermatoglyphic traits are formed under genetic control early in development but may be affected by environmental factors during first trimester of pregnancy. These patterns may represent the genetic makeup of an individual and therefore his/her predisposition to certain diseases also. Dermatoglyphics has been studied in certain clinical disorders which are associated with chromosomal and developmental defects like mongolism, Turner’s syndrome, cardiovascular disease, Diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia and ischemic heart disease. Epidermal ridge patterns of finger tips were studied to find out dermatoglyphics features in patients of such diseases and their correlation with normal population. But in this module, we shall only be focussing on the forensic aspect of dermatoglyphics. 15. 2 Learning Outcome In this module, we shall be focusing on the importance of most important evidence in personal identification i.e; dermatoglyphics. The students will learn basics of dermatoglyphics in forensic anthropological set up. Dermatoglyphics has direct interest and application to anthropology and continues to grow since the turn of the century. Anthropological dermatoglyphics can offer important perspectives in viewing the nature and significance of human variation. Several forefronts of ongoing research are reviewed. First, methodology continues to improve definition and classification of variables. A second line of inquiry deals with hereditary aspects. Inheritance models, both monogenic and polygenic, have been proposed. Single locus systems seem to have limited application, as in the 3 Forensic Anthropology Anthropology Dermatoglyphics in Forensic Anthropology transmission of triradial excess or deficiency illustrated by the missing c triradius. Polygenic inheritance has been demonstrated in quantitative phenotypic expressions exemplified by the total finger ridge-count. Maternal and other environmental effects have been shown to operate on dermatoglyphic expression. 15.3 Introduction The word dermatoglyphics comes from two Greek words (derma, skin and glyphe, carve) and refers to the friction ridge formations which appear on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Dermatoglyphics is the scientific study of fingerprints. The term was coined by Dr. Harold Cummins, the father of American fingerprint analysis, even though the process of fingerprint identification had already been used for several hundred years. All primates have ridged patterns on their palmar and plantar surfaces for better and easy grip. Our fingers and feet have the most stripes (lines). Human population studies using dermatoglyphics began with early racial descriptions and currently utilize multivariate procedures for detecting evolutionary processes. Congruence testing between dermatoglyphics and other biological distance measures is also an active endeavour. In this connection, dermatoglyphics variable selection has become important in recognizing that different variables might well be useful in micro- and macro- evolutionary situations. The human dermatoglyphics traits present variations within and between populations and could be used for estimating the genetic distances between populations. Dermatoglyphics attracted a great number of scientists from all sections of biology, medicine and biological anthropology and links between dermatoglyphics and diseases or congenital abnormalities have also been explored. In fact, Dermatoglyphs are used as easily accessible tool to assess genetically determined diseases. Moreover, dermatoglyphics have been used extensively to characterize human populations and most studies have focused on dermatoglyphics variables within and between various populations across the world or between sexes. In the latter and in more recent studies, the dermatoglyphics traits are used for estimating the genetic distances between populations. The skin is the largest sensory organ of the body. The skin is sensitive to many kinds of ‘stimuli’ such as, pressure and temperature. Within the skin, there are different types of ‘receptors’ that are activated by different stimuli. The finger is the receptor. It contains sensory neurons. When the receptor is activated, it triggers a series of nerve impulses. For a person to ‘feel’ the stimulus, the nerves impulses must make their way upto brain. Nerves control specific muscles and provide sensation to the body. The median nerve carries sensory messages from the thumb and some fingers to the brain, and also instructions from the brain to the muscles in the hand. 4 Forensic Anthropology Anthropology Dermatoglyphics in Forensic Anthropology Also, dermatoglyphic analysis has been applied to primate studies. Although this area has not kept pace with human studies, primate work has been crucial for the important matters of taxonomic assessment and functional dermatoglyphics. Fingerprints or Dermatoglyphs consist of patterns formed by parallel ridges on bare skin of fingertips. They are typical for higher primates, but occur sporadically in other mammals. The dermatoglyphic patterns of dermal ridges that constitute human fingerprint are formed during early intrauterine life, between the 7th and 21st week of gestation and are fully formed at about seven months of foetus development. It is unique and it will not change throughout the life of an individual. It has been reported that ridges are influenced by blood vessel-nerve pairs at the border between the dermis and epidermis during prenatal development. Factors such as inadequate oxygen supply, unusual distribution of sweat glands and alterations of epithelial growths could influence ridge patterns. The finger ridge configurations do not change throughout the life of individuals by environment or age factors except in events such as bruises and cuts of the fingertips. This property makes fingerprints a very attractive biometric identifier. Finger ridge counts and frequencies of all palm patterns follow the genetic modes of major genes. The distribution of interdigital patterns has been proven to follow a multi-allelic major gene mode of inheritance. However, no Mendelian modes of inheritance have been discovered for most Dermatoglyphs characteristics in pedigree studies because of either low inheritance or a too large number of contributing genes. Figure 1 shows the history of dermatoglyphics. 5 Forensic Anthropology Anthropology Dermatoglyphics in Forensic Anthropology Figure 1: Diagram of the final dermal surface, illustrating the dermal papillae and the corresponding mirror-image epidermal development. (Reproduced from Okajima, M. [1975b], Technical aspects of dermatoglyphic examination in primates, in Contemporary Primatology: Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress of Primatologist, S. Kondo, M. Kawai, andA. Ehara, Eds., New York: S. Karger, pp. 49–53. With permission.) HISTORY OF DERMATOGLYPHICS 1892 Sir Francis Galton – A British anthropologist and a cousin of Charles Darwin, He published his book, "Fingerprints", establishing the individuality and permanence of fingerprints. The book included the first classification system for fingerprints 1926 Harold Cummins, M.D. aka. the Father of Dermatoglyphics. And C.Midlo, M.D.studied all aspects of fingerprint analysis, from anthropology to genetics and embryology perspective. 1943 Published book, Finger Prints, Palms and Soles, a bible in the field of dermatoglyphics 1944 Dr Julius Spier published The Hands of Children, analysis children’s Psychological personality development using the Dermatoglyphics method. 70’s USSR - Using Dermatoglyphics in selecting the contestant for Olympics. 1980’s China carry out researching work of human potential, intelligence and talents in dermatoglyphics and human genome perspective. 1976 Schaumann and Alter's 'Dermatoglyphics in Medical Disorders' published.Significant investigations have also been carried out into the dermatoglyphics indicators of congenital heart disease, leukaemia, cancer, coeliac disease, intestinal disorders, rubella embryopathy, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia as well as other forms of mental illness. Dermatoglyphics research being directed into genetic research and the diagnosis of chromosomal