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Is a person's fingerprint pattern related to their toe print pattern?
Question Date: 2015-09-18
Answer 1:

That's an interesting question. Fingerprints are thought to develop due to differences in the growth rate of the layers of your skin; the top layer grows faster than the mid-layer resulting in buckling of the top layer and formation of ridges. Environmental factors in the womb (fluid, movement) appear to also influence formation of the fingerprint, meaning that the ridge pattern is not exclusively genetic. For example, identical twins (that have the same DNA) have distinct fingerprints (and presumably toe-prints). Since an individual’s fingers and toes develop in the same environment, perhaps they would be more similar than if you compared the fingerprints between individuals. I would hypothesize then that finger and toe-prints are related. However, I am not sure, and cannot find any data to support this hypothesis. What is your hypothesis and how could you test it? I would start by identifying some common features of the toe print and fingerprint (arches vs whorls for example) and compare these qualities among many different individuals. Can you predict the features of the toe print by examining the fingerprint or vice versa?

Your question leads me to many more questions, which means it is an exceptionally good one!



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