European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN THE PATTERNS OF LIP PRINTS AMONG STUDENTS OF ALEX EKWUEME FEDERAL UNIVERSITY NDUFU-ALIKE IKWO, NIGERIA

Ezemagu U. Kenneth, Odoh C. Emelda., Obaje S. G. and Uzomba G. Chinedu*

ABSTRACT

Individual identification is an important and challenging task in forensic investigation and Cheiloscopy which is the study of the furrows or grooves present on the red part of the vermillion border of the human lips which can be used in identifying individual. The present study aimed to evaluate the sexual dimorphism of the lip print among students of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu- Alike. A total of 220 subjects (100 males and 120 females). Data were collected through direct scanning method with a photo scanner. Thereafter the scanned image was cropped and transferred to the system for identification and was categorized into four quadrants as right upper quadrant, left upper quadrant, right lower quadrant and left lower quadrant. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 and graph pad to obtain the percentage distributions, mean and standard deviation. Chi-square test was used to test for association between genders in the different lip prints pattern (P<0.05). The result of the percentage distribution of the lip prints showed that in male Type I’ (60.80%) which is partial length groove of Type I was the predominant pattern and in female Type I (66.32%) which is the complete vertical groove was the predominant in female. Width of the oral opening, height of the upper lips and height of the lower lips shows statistical significant difference (P<0.05). The present study revealed that type I’ for male and type I for female were the predominant types of lip print patterns. Therefore, lip prints may be a potential forensic tool for gender determination. In the view of these results, this study concluded that there are inherent statistical values and variations on the morphological patterns of lip prints among students from Ikwo in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu- Alike Ikwo.

Keywords: Cheiloscopy, lip print, Ikwo student in AE-FUNAI, Ebonyi state.