Biological foundations for forensic identifications based on fingerprints

Different countries have different norms with regards to the number of minutiae, which are considered necessary for identification in fingerprint comparison. We investigated these numbers of minutiae with respect to finger, pattern and hand in a sample of 100 Dutch males. The minutiae were counted in the 16 cells of a 20 x 20 mm grid placed on the fingerprint. Statistical analysis showed that individual-, pattern- and fingerfactors, determine the number of minutiae. In this quantitative respect the fingers of both hands can be grouped in two groups: (1, 4) and (2, 3, 5). Because an identification based on a fingerprint, depends on the expected number of minutiae, this study draws special attention on the variation in this number. It is probable that the number of minutiae needed for the identification depends in a greater of lesser degree on finger, pattern, sex and population-group of the individual.