Zeitschrift für Biometrie und Biostatistik

Human Earprints: A Review

Abstract

Nitin Kaushal and Purnima Kaushal

Since centuries the external ear which is known as the pinna or the auricle has been used as a means of identification. It has been studied and described as a part of procedures to establish the identity of criminals and victims of crimes and accidents. Not only the auricle itself showed potential for establishing the identity of criminals, but also its prints. When perpetrators of crimes listen at, for instance, a door or window before breaking and entering, oils and waxes leave prints that can be made visible using techniques similar to those used when lifting fingerprints. These prints appear characteristic for the ears that made them.