Dermatoglyphics

Dermatoglyphics is the study of epidermal ridge patterns on fingers, palms, and soles, including their development, variation, and use in identification.

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Friction ridge skin: Skin on fingers, palms, toes, and soles whose raised ridges aid grip and leave impressions. Dermatoglyphics examines the distinctive ridge-bearing skin on these body surfaces.
Fetal development: The growth and differentiation of an organism before birth. Dermatoglyphic ridges develop during a limited period of fetal growth.
Fingerprint identification: The comparison of friction-ridge impressions to determine whether they came from the same source. It is the principal forensic application of dermatoglyphic pattern analysis.
Francis Galton: An English polymath whose 1892 book Finger Prints advanced fingerprint classification and identification. Galton helped establish a systematic framework for studying and comparing fingerprints.
Fingerprint pattern: The broad arrangement of ridges in a fingerprint, commonly described as an arch, loop, or whorl. Pattern classes summarize ridge flow but are less detailed than full dermatoglyphic comparison.
Fingerprint: An impression or recorded image of the ridge pattern on a fingertip. Fingerprints are the best-known dermatoglyphic patterns and a major identification source.
Volcano-shaped ridge formation: A developmental model in which localized elevations in fetal volar skin help establish primary ridge patterns. It describes one proposed physical process shaping early ridge configurations.
Automated fingerprint identification system: A computer system that stores, searches, and compares fingerprint records using extracted features. Automated systems apply ridge-pattern measurements at database scale.
Jan Evangelista Purkyně: A Czech anatomist who published an early classification of fingerprint patterns in 1823. His pattern categories preceded later systems used in dermatoglyphic study.
DNA profiling: The identification of individuals by analyzing selected regions of their DNA. It identifies biological material through genetic variation rather than the physical arrangement of skin ridges.