Babylon
Archaeologists discovered fingerprints pressed into clay tablet contracts dating back to 1792-1750 B.C. in this place.
ancient China
Here, it was common practice to use inked fingerprints on all official documents. The oldest known document showing fingerprints dates back to this place from the third century B.C.
Dr. Nehemiah
1684: wrote a paper describing patterns seen on human hands under the microscope, including the presence of ridges.
Mayer
1788: described how the arrangement of skin ridges is never duplicated on two different people
Jan Evangelist Purkyn
1823: described nine distinct fingerprint patterns, including loops, spirals, circles, and double whorls.
Herschel
1856: began collection of fingerprints, noting that the patterns were unique to each person and were not altered by age.
Bertillon
1879: created the first system used to identify criminals by their fingerprints. The system was first used in 1883 to identify a repeating offender.
Bertillon
1902: credited with solving the first murder using fingerprints.
Galton
This man verified that fingerprints did not change with age. 1888: developed the classification system for fingerprints that is still in use today in the US and Europe
Vucetich
1891: improved fingerprint collection by beginning to note measurements on the ID cards as well as adding all 10 fingerprint impressions. He also devised his own fingerprint classification system and invented a better way to collect prints.
Henry
1896: created a system that divided fingerprint records into groups based on whether they have an arch, whorl, or loop pattern. Each fingerprint card in the system was imprinted with all 10 fingers and marked with individual characteristics, called a ten
dermal
Fingerprints are raised portions of the skin, arranged in connected units called ______, or friction, ridges.
10th
Patterns for fingerprints probably form at the beginning of the ____ week of pregnancy, when the fetus is about 3 inches long.
basal
The creation of fingerprints happens in the _____ layer, a special layer within the epidermis where new skin cells are produced. Layers collapes and fold as skin cells are created, leaving ridges on the tips of fingers.
65%
About ___% of the total population has loops.
30%
About __% of the total population has whorls.
5%
About __% of the total population has arches.
core, delta
Two things a forensics examiner looks for on a fingerprint are the presence of ______ and _______.
ridge count
A _____ ______ is another characteristic used to distinguish one fingerprint to another. To take a _____ _____, an imaginary line is drawn from the center of the core to the edge of the delta, and whatever touches those is counted.
central pocket loop, plain, double loop, accidental
types of whorl patterns
plain, tented
types of arch patterns
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
What does IAFIS stand for?
ninhydrin
used on: paper
reacts with: amino acids
latent print: purple-blue
cyanoacrylate vapor
used on: plastic, metal, glass, skin
reacts with: amino acids
latent print: white
silver nitrate
used on: wood, styrofoam
reacts with: chloride
latent print: black/reddish-brown (under UV light)
iodine fuming
used on: paper, cardboard, unpainted surfaces
reacts with: carbohydrates
latent print: brownish print
minutiae
the combination of details in th shapes and positions of ridges in fingerprints that make each unique
patent fingerprint
a visible fingerprint occurring when fingers covered in blood, ink, etc. touch surface and transfer the fingerprint pattern to the surface.
loop
a fingerprint pattern in which the ridge pattern flows inward and returns in the direction of the origin
latent fingerprint
a hidden fingerprint made visible through the use of powders and other techniques
delta
a triangular ridge pattern with ridges that go in different directions above and below the triangle
fingerprint
an impression left on any surface that consists of patterns made by the ridges on a finger
arch
a fingerprint pattern in which the ridge pattern originates from one side of the print and leaves from the other side
core
a center of a loop or whorl
plastic fingerprint
a 3D print imprinted in soft material like clay, putty, etc.
ridge pattern
the recognizable pattern of the ridges found in the end joints of fingers that form lines on surfaces of objects. (arches, whorls, loops)
ten card
a form used to record and preserve a person's fingerprints
whorl
a fingerprint pattern resembling a bulls eye