Determination of Sex and Stature from Latent Palm Prints Present on Documents in Egyptian Population Sample

Palm and finger prints are considered one of the best methods of absolute identification of an individual. So the aim of this study was to determine sex and stature from the latent palm prints present on documents. This study was done on 129 persons (60 males and 69 females) and they were asked to put their signatures on a blank paper. After that, ninhydrin solution was sprayed over the paper. After appearance of the latent print; the paper is scanned with its original size, then the scanned picture was opened with Geometer's sketchpad software. Stature and fourteen parameters were measured. As regards sex determination; there was a significant increase in LA, LB, LC, perimeter and area in males than females (P <0.001). By stepwise discriminant functional analysis, the most accurate predictors of sax were LA and area. As regards stature estimation, the most predictors of stature by stepwise regression analysis in males were Angle C and LB, while in females the most predictors were area, angle B, RA and Angle C. Finally, it was confirmed that latent palm prints on documents are helpful in sex and stature determination in Egyptian population sample through measurement of different distances and angles.