Uniqueness of External Ear: A Test in Genetic Relations - Abstract
In recent times various human morphological features are used for establishing identity of an individual. One of the essential properties of any trait to be used for personal identification is it should be ‘Unique’ in every individual. External ear is a new entrant in this field. It is a fact that every morphological feature is under genetic influence and may be assumed that it will exhibit similarity among genetically related individuals than population at large. In this study an attempt has been made to estimate the extent of closeness of the ear structure in genetic relations and also to determine whether it altered the ‘unique’ nature of the individual ear. The study sample included members of 90 general and 27 tribal families of Central India. A validation study was performed on members of 48 North Indian families. The closest of genetic relation, monozygotic twins (Fifty three pairs) were also examined. Seventeen linear distances were measured on image of ear and each ear was represented as a feature vector in 17 dimensional feature space. Every ear pattern was paired and compared with its genetic relative. The dissimilarity in the ear pattern was measured by Euclidean distance between members of the pair. During analysis it was found that every ear pattern was distinct in its morphology. Among various genetic relations the ear patterns
exhibited maximum dissimilarity between grandparent and grandchild and were most similar among monozygotic twin pairs.