link.springer.com

Anatomy of Friction Ridge Skin

Synonyms

Definition

Friction ridge skin refers to the skin of the palms of the hands and fingers as well as the soles of the feet and toes. Friction ridge skin can be differentiated from the skin of the rest of the body by the presence of raised ridges, by epidermis that is thicker and structurally more complex, by increased sensory abilities, by the absence of hair, and by the absence of sebaceous glands. The presence of friction ridges enhances friction for skin used in grasping. Note that the term fingerprint refers to an impression left by the friction skin of a finger rather than the anatomical structure itself.

Introduction

The palms of the hands and fingers as well as the soles of the feet and toes have skin that is distinctly different from the skin of the rest of the body. This skin is known as thick skin, volar skin, or hairless skin by anatomists, but is known as friction ridge skin in the biometric and forensic communities due to...

References

  1. Ashbaugh, D.R.: Quantitative-Qualitative Friction Ridge Analysis: An Introduction to Basic and Advance Ridgeology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Scientific Working Group on Friction Ridge Analysis, Study and Technology (SWGFAST): Glossary, Version 1.0. http://www.swgfast.org/Glossary_Consolidated_ver_1.pdf (2003)

  3. Standring, S. (ed.): Gray’s Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice, 39th edn. Elsevier, London (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Weiss, L. (ed.): Cell and Tissue Biology: A Textbook of Histology, 6th Edition. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Baltimore (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Federal Bureau of Investigation: The Science of Fingerprints, Rev 12–84. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Maceo, A.: Biological Basis of Uniqueness, Persistence, and Pattern Formation. In: 4th International fingerprint symposium, Lyon, France, 17–19 May 2006. http://www.interpol.int/Public/Forensic/fingerprints/Conference/May2006/presentations/2AliceMaceoPart1.pdf, 2AliceMaceoPart2.pdf (2006)

  7. Wertheim, K., Maceo, A.: The Critical Stage of Friction Ridge and Pattern Formation. J. Forensic Ident. 52(1), 35–85 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ankel-Simons, F.: Primate Anatomy: An Introduction. Academic Press, San Diego (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Henneberg, M., Lambert, K.M., Leigh, C.M.: Fingerprint homoplasy: koalas and humans. naturalSCIENCE.com. Heron Publishing, Victoria, Canada (1997)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Noblis, Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church, VA, USA

    R. Austin Hicklin

Authors

  1. R. Austin Hicklin

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Biometrics and Security Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Stan Z. Li (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Departments of Computer Science & Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Anil Jain (Professor) (Professor)

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Hicklin, R.A. (2009). Anatomy of Friction Ridge Skin. In: Li, S.Z., Jain, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biometrics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73003-5_48

Download citation

Publish with us