Find out if you have unusual fingerprints
Dermatoglyphics, the ridged skin covering our palms and sole, are not only found on human beings. All primates have ridged skin, and it can also be found on the paws of certain mammals and on the tails of some monkey species. The drag against the ridges when feeling the texture of a surface heightens the intensity of stimulation of the nerve endings.
“It is interesting to ask a person who is ignorant of the real intention, to shut his eyes and to ascertain as well as he can by the sense of touch alone, the material of which any object is made that is afterward put into his hands. He will be observed to explore it very carefully by rubbing its surface in many directions, and with many degrees of pressure. The ridges engage themselves with the roughness of the surface, and greatly help in calling forth the required sensation, which is that of a thrill; usually faint, but always to be perceived when the sensation is analysed, and which becomes very distinct when the indentations are at equal distances apart, as in a file or in velvet.”- Galton, F. "father of dermatoglyphics".
Ridges are extremely narrow in infants and gradually broaden with age. Despite this fact there are no changes in the ridge patterns themselves, which is why fingerprints are used for identification. Dermatoglyphic patterns are also found elsewhere in nature, such as the stripes of zebras, the arrangement of hair on the body, sand whipped by wind or waves, and magnetic field patterns.
The three basic fingerprint patterns, classified as such by Galton, are the whorl, the arch and the loop. A number of other fingerprint patterns, which are generally variations of these basic three, have been recognized (such as the twin loop and the central pocket loop).
The table below shows the fingerprint pattern distribution for a total of 5000 individuals, mainly British. It gives an indication of the frequency of occurrance of different pattern types on each finger (1 - 5 is thumb - pinky).