Why are humans the only primates with fingerprints?

• Basically, what function do fingerprints serve and why are they different for each of us?

• Answer:

  Actually all primates have friction or dermal ridges (aka finger prints). As the name friction ridge indicates, fingerprints, or more accurately the dermal ridges create a stickier surface to grab onto branches or fruit for example. From reference below (finger print highlighted with <<<>>>): 6. Order - Primates; characterized by k-selection, single birth (with rare twinning - species specific) with emphasis placed on individual care during growth and development, long maturation period with social play, learning, long life span # a. shift from smell to vision; stereoscopic vision important for climbing through trees and picking insects, flowers and fruit from branches, closure of the bony orbit (bone encircling the eye) # b. hand-eye coordination, coupled with pentadactyl, allows for grasping objects in space, nails have underlying tactile pads that are highly sensitive, <<<<<<dermal ridges (fingerprints)>>>>>> allow for friction in which to grasp objects # c. increase in size and complexity of cerebral cortex so that organisms can learn and interact in the environment; related to increase sense of sight with decrease sense of smell