It is possible to identify an individual's ancestral background based on his or her fingerprint characteristics ... such as pattern types and ridge counts. Forensic fingerprint analysis, which ...

The identifying ridge features, however, are not inheritable, which is what makes every fingerprint unique ... The identifying characteristics are different, however. The table above lists ...

Fingerprints were classified into the ... fewer whorls and lower ridge counts, these characteristics suggest sex reversal. Ridge counts were made on right index fingers. The average count of ...

She says sections of some fingerprints look quite a bit alike. "Within this area, you have a tendency to have very similar ridge characteristics, such as ending ridges and bifurcations and dots ...

“We have all those multiple hotspots, and each one responds to the details of 0.4 millimetres, which is the approximate width of the [fingerprint] ridge,” she says. “Then our brain receives ...

“We have all those multiple hotspots, and each one responds to the details of 0.4 millimeters, which is the approximate width of the [fingerprint] ridge,” Jarocka tells New Scientist.

A proof-of-concept study finds that it is possible to identify an individual's ancestral background based on his or her fingerprint characteristics ... pattern types and ridge counts.

It turns out that DNA isn't the only factor that influences a person's fingerprints, even though it does play a major role in determining the ridge pattern characteristics, Francese said.