Finger Print Patterns amongst Federal Polytechnic Ede Students in Osun State, Nigeria

This study determined the fingerprint patterns of 1000 students in Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State, Nigeria. A fingerprint is the reproduction of the friction ridges present on the inner surface of a fingertip. The fingerprint patterns were recognized based on the appearance of ridges lines to determine loops, whorls, and arches. The finger print samples were collected from the respondents based on the random sampling method. This study lasted 5 months, from December 2021 to May 2022. Materials used for this study; stamp pad, white paper, methylated spirit, and cotton wool. The smeared thumbs of both hands of the respondents were printed on plain white paper. For demographics, name, age, sex, department, and state of origin were collected. Of the 1000 students used for this study, 571 were females and 429 were males. The fingerprint pattern Loop was the highest, while the Arch pattern was the least. From this study, it was discovered that the distribution of dermatoglyphic patterns was almost similar on both hands as regards handedness, while bilateral variations could not be established, but there was an association between the distribution of fingerprint patterns, gender and handedness.