Fingerprint Activities: Animals: 1

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Creating nose-prints is less invasive than typical ear-tagging or branding methods, but the method is time-consuming and difficult to put into use on a large scale. But in 2015, Egyptian scientists at Beni-Suef University created a computer-based technique using algorithms rather than ink and paper to detect distinct features in bovine muzzles.

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Alphonse Bertillon was a French policeman and researcher who capitalized on the fact that each person’s body proportions are different. He developed a way of using photographs to measure a person’s unique dimensions—a technique that’s still reflected in jailhouse mug shots. The Bertillon System, as it came to be known, was adopted by law enforcement agencies in Europe and North America and used for three decades. 3. SOME PEOPLE ARE BORN WITHOUT THEM. Turan C. Molecular Systematic Analyses of Mediterranean Skates (Rajiformes) Turk. J. Zool. 2008; 32:1–6. [ Google Scholar] Unlike the original DNA fingerprinting method, DNA profiling does not use restriction enzymes to cut the DNA. Instead it uses the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to produce many copies of specific STR sequences. New Scientist Ltd retains total editorial control over the published content and reserves all rights to reuse question and answer material that has been submitted by readers in any medium or in any format. The probability of having two people with the same DNA fingerprint that are not identical twins is very small.

A 2015 study in Australia focused on both chimpanzees and koalas. The scientists doing the research found that chimpanzee prints were actually less akin to human prints than previously stated – at least when throwing koala prints into the mix. These marsupials’ dermal ridges prove to be more similar to humans’ than the primates’ are. For the creatures sporting stripes, these coat markings serve as a visual identifier. For example, no two zebras have the same stripes. Marine biologists distinguish sharks by the shape of their fins and notches in them. The species more closely related to humans have proven to have fingerprints very similar to mankind. Owen, M.A.; Swaisgood, R.R.; Slocomb, C.; Amstrup, S.C.; Durner, G.M.; Simac, K.; Pessier, A.P. An experimental investigation of chemical communication in the polar bear. J. Zool. 2014, 295, 36–43. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef]In a 2017 issue of Journal Mammalogy, U.S. Forest Service scientist Sybil Amelon and colleagues at the University of Missouri outline a solution to an issue that has stumped scientists for decades: how to non-invasively tag individual bats. You might wonder if koalas having identical fingerprints to humans impacts anyone. While koala fingerprints at a crime scene might cause confusion, it’s unlikely that it’ll happen.

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