<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/1712bfb0-8910-48bb-8859-99641bfaf198/F9615E66-5941-49FD-B1A6-7E692BC4E94C/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fingerprint&oldid=299562887" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fingerprint&oldid=299562887" style="font-size: 11px;">en.wikipedia.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fingerprint&oldid=299562887"><P>A <B>fingerprint</B> is an impression of the friction ridges on all parts of the <A title="Finger" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger">finger</A>.<SUP class="reference" id="cite_ref-swglos_0-0"><A href="#cite_note-swglos-0"><SPAN>[</SPAN>1<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP> A friction ridge is a raised portion of the <A title="Epidermis (skin)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidermis_(skin)">epidermis</A> on the palmar (palm) or digits (fingers and <A title="Toe" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe">toes</A>) or plantar (sole) skin, consisting of one or more connected ridge units of friction ridge skin.<SUP class="reference" id="cite_ref-swglos_0-1"><A href="#cite_note-swglos-0"><SPAN>[</SPAN>1<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP> These are sometimes known as "epidermal ridges" which are caused by the underlying interface between the dermal <A title="wiktionary:Papilla" class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Papilla">papillae</A> of the dermis and the interpapillary (rete) pegs of the epidermis. These epidermal ridges serve to amplify <A title="Vibration" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration">vibrations</A> triggered when fingertips brush across an uneven surface, better transmitting the signals to <A title="Sensory nerve" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_nerve">sensory nerves</A> involved in fine texture perception.<SUP class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><A href="#cite_note-1"><SPAN>[</SPAN>2<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP> The ridges do not assist in gripping objects, sometimes in fact reducing grip to as much as 30% compared to completely smooth fingerpads.<SUP class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><A href="#cite_note-2"><SPAN>[</SPAN>3<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP></P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/F9615E66-5941-49FD-B1A6-7E692BC4E94C/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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