Future of Forensics
Classifying Fingerprints
Fingerprints can be broadly classified based on appearance: loops, arches, and whorls.
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As shown on the right, a loop starts from the right and goes all the way around to end at the right. Basically, a loop starts and ends at the same side.
Unlike loops, arches start from one side and end at the other. As seen in the yellow fingerprint, it starts from the left, caves up, and ends at the right.
Whorls are not to be confused with loops; whorls usually form a full circular or oval shape, while loops do not form a complete circle nor oval.
Usually people of European descent tend to have more loops, African descent have more arches, and Asians have more whorls. Identifying and analyzing a person's fingerprints can probably uncover their race!
What Can Fingerprints Tell?
Fingerprints are left everywhere by everyone. These unique swirls can roughly determine a person's height, weight, profession, and type of case. So what makes your fingerprints distinctive from everybody else's?
The general size of a person can be determined easily by their fingerprints. If a fingerprint is small, the owner is very likely to be a smaller person and a large fingerprint left by a larger person. Approximate height of the person can also be discovered. The height of the print on a wall can indicate whether a person is tall or short.
Occupation is harder to determine because different jobs require different skills. For example, construction workers will have rough hands, musicians might have calluses on their fingertips, and white- collars may have fading fingerprints due to excessive typing or calluses from excessive writing. However, sometimes these clues might not be positive because different habits can also develop these effects.
Although a lack of fingerprints in a crime scene is unhelpful, sometimes it's unusual to not leave any fingerprints behind. For example, suicide cases should not have evidence of removing these prints. The absence and presence of fingerprints is very beneficial in determining the type of case.
(Source: Fingerprints and How to Classify Them)