The Ups and Downs of Dermatoglyphics

The history of Dermatoglyphics

As podiatrists we spend a lot of time studying and observing the foot. One of its distinctive properties on the surface of the soles (and palms) are the undulations and patterns created by the skin markings amplified on the weight bearing areas of the forefoot and volar surface of the toes and fingers known as the “Dermatoglyphics”. The term was derived from the Greek - derma “skin”  and glyph “carving” and was first introduced at the annual session of the American Association of Anatomists in April 1926, appearing in print the same year [1].

Prior to this, the literature documents the skin markings of the hands and feet but it is hard to see when it moved from early knowledge into observation in science [2]. A Scottish physician, Henry Faulds, published a paper in 1880 recalling his time in Tsukiji Hospital, Japan working as a doctor. He observed fingerprints in ancient Japanese pottery. Noticing that fingerprints were unique to an individual, he also showed (with a scalpel) that they were permanent!

Next, he began studies of prints in humans and monkeys, reporting how to take fingerprints, analyse and describe the now recognised loops and whorls commonly observed. He went on to document how he had used them to solve crimes – fingerprints on an empty bottle of alcohol at one scene and using fingerprints to eliminate a suspect at another scene [3]. The same year, in the same journal, Herschel published an article on the same topic [4].

Foulds returned to the UK in 1885 and offered his fingerprinting services to the Scotland Yard – but he was declined. In 1901, Scotland Yard opened its Fingerprint Bureau, with it first being used in evidence in 1902. Faulds did not receive much credit for his pioneering work despite his publications of 1880 onwards [5-8] being now widely accepted [9], much of his work being overshadowed latterly by the work of Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin. Interestingly, Faulds wrote to Darwin, who was ill at the time. Darwin passed on his letter to Francis Galton, unbeknown to Foulds. Galton subsequently published a book in 1892 on fingerprints,  repeating much of Faulds work, with little acknowledgement [10].

Dermatoglyphics – what can they tell us?

Physiologically, the dermatoglyphics have developed on the hands and feet to improve tactile sensitivity and increase friction to prevent slipping, improving grip when grasping objects or when walking barefoot. The ridge and furrow arrangement increases surface area and is assisted by the presence of sweat duct openings on the peak of the ridges (Figure 1).

A dermatoscopic view of the plantar surface. Sweat ducts (yellow circle) can be seen as white dots along the peak of the ridges (Red Arrow) whilst furrows (Green arrow) are narrower and have no duct openings.

Dermatoglyphics begin to form around the 13^th week in utero,  completing by the 21^st week. Remaining permanent throughout life, they follow a polygenic pattern of inheritance. In utero at the same time, many other organs are at critical stages of development including the nervous system. Consequently, the dermatoglyphic pattern can be affected by abnormalities in development such as Down syndrome (Trisomy 21), first reported by Cummins in 1939 [11]. Subsequent chromosomal and genetic syndromes have been correlated to dermatoglyphic patterns such as Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18), Kleinfelter (XXY) and Turner (X0) Syndrome.

There may be yet other unconfirmed dermatoglyphic related traits. A plethora of papers have been published over the years suggesting that dermatoglyphics correlate a broad range of biological features and disorders including hypertension in later life [12], schizophrenia [13], anterior cruciate ligament injuries [14], blood groups [15], intelligence [16] and even personality types [17] but further research is needed to substantiate this work. A shift in science and towards rapid and accessible  DNA analysis has diminished the interest in this area in recent decades.

Dermatoglyphics in melanoma detection

From a podiatry perspective, dermatoglyphics can be helpful in clinical diagnoses. It has been long known that close observation of a plantar wart demonstrates an abrupt interruption of the natural dermatoglyphics compared with a corn, where they divert around the lesion (Figure 2). However, the most useful function is that for detecting suspicious pigmented lesions on the soles of the feet.

Dermoscopy of a plantar wart (debrided) demonstrated abrupt interruption in the normal linear architecture of the dermatoglyphics.

In 1995, Toshiaka Saida and colleagues from Japan [18] , analysed 105 pigmented lesions on the sole and palms of patients. They were all excised and examined histologically after dermoscopy to confirm the diagnosis (15 melanoma, 13 sub corneal haematoma and 77 melanocytic naevi). What they discovered was that dermatoglyphic patterns showed a high prediction of whether a lesion was likely to be benign or malignant. In a subsequent paper statistically analysing 712 plantar and palmar lesions they showed that a parallel ridge pattern had an extremely high specificity in melanoma [19].

Ridges and furrows in Dermoscopy

The work of Saida and other Japanese researchers [20] was a significant step forward in helping clinicians visually detect lesions which required excision with a high accuracy. The ridges and furrow concept has become a major observation in modern dermoscopy. Pigmentation located on the ridges requires careful assessment to rule out melanoma, whilst a furrow pattern strongly favours a benign, melanocytic naevus, diagnosis.

The parallel furrow pattern demonstrating pigment in the furrow of the dermatoglyphs.

“Furrows are fine ridges are wrong”

The simple dermatoscopic observation demonstrates lesions that should be referred/biopsied to rule out melanoma. The dermatoglyphics ridges generally in benign pigmented lesions hold no pigment - the pigmentation is predominantly in the furrows (Figure 3, above). In melanoma, pigmentation is located, in the early stages, exclusively in the ridges, providing a visual clue permitting referral for further assessment (Figure 4). For further information, I have covered the ridges and furrows in more detail in an earlier publication which can be viewed and downloaded here.

Figure 4: The parallel ridge pattern can be seen on the lower side of the lesion, indicating strong suspicion of melanoma.

For further reading, I have covered the ridges and furrows in more detail in an earlier publication which can be viewed and download here.

References

1.  Cummins, H. and C. Midlo, Palmar and plantar. Epidermal ridge configurations (dermatoglyphics’) in European-Americans. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1926. 9(4): p. 471–502.

2. Cummins, H. and C. Midlo, Fingerprints, palms and soles - an introduction to dermatoglyphics. 1943.

3. Faulds, H., On the skin furrows of the hand. Nature, 1880. 22: p. 605.

4. Herschel, W., Skin furrows of the hand. Nature, 1880. 23: p. 76.

5. Faulds, H., On the identification of habitual criminals by finger prints Nature, 1894: p. 548.

6. Faulds, H., Finger prints. A chapter in their use for personal identification. Scientific American, 1911. 1872: p. 326–327.

7.  Faulds, H., Poroscopy: the scrutiny of sweat pores for identification. Nature, 1913. 91: p. 635–636.

8.  Faulds, H., The permanence of finger prints. Nature, 1917. 98: p. 388–389.

9.  Chang, N.Y.Z. and J. Verbov, Dr Henry Faulds(1843-1930). A pioneer of fingerprints (Poster), British Association of Dermatologists Annual Meeting. 2012: Birmingham, UK.

10. Galton, F., Finger Prints. 1892, London: MacMillan and Co.,.

11. Cummins, H., Dermatoglyphic stigmata in mongoloid imbeciles. The Anatomical Record, 1939. 73.

12. Wijerathne, B.T., et al., Dermatoglyphics in hypertension: a review. J Physiol Anthropol, 2015. 34(1): p. 29.

13.         Bou Farah, E., et al., Dermatoglyphics and schizophrenia: A comprehensive review of neurodevelopmental biomarkers. World J Psychiatry, 2025. 15(11): p. 112206.

14.         Soares, B.H., et al., Dermatoglyphics as a Risk Indicator for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Futsal Athletes. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol, 2025. 10(4).

15.         Nur, E.A.N. and M. Ashrafuzzaman, Association between Dermatoglyphics and Blood Group. Mymensingh Med J, 2026. 35(1): p. 184–188.

16.         Paswan, D., Correlation between dermatoglyphic pattern and multiple intelligence among medical students. Journal of the Anatomical Society of India, 2016. 65: p. S100–S101.

17.         Venurkar, S., et al., Decoding Human Personality Through Dermatoglyphics. Cureus, 2022. 14(10): p. e30445.

18.         Saida, T., S. Oguchi, and Y. Ishihara, In vivo observation of magnified features of pigmented lesions on volar skin using video macroscope. Usefulness of epiluminescence techniques in clinical diagnosis. Arch Dermatol, 1995. 131(3): p. 298–304.

19.         Saida, T., et al., Significance of dermoscopic patterns in detecting malignant melanoma on acral volar skin: results of a multicenter study in Japan. Arch Dermatol, 2004. 140(10): p. 1233–8.

20.         Miyazaki, A., et al., Anatomical and histopathological correlates of the dermoscopic patterns seen in melanocytic nevi on the sole: a retrospective study. J Am Acad Dermatol, 2005. 53(2): p. 230–6.