The team looked at the right index fingerprints of 243 people: 61 African-American women, 61 African-American men, 61 European-American women and 60 European-American men. They checked level one details and level two details, used in criminal justice contexts.
Level one details include pattern types and ridge counts. Level two details include more specific variations such as bifurcations -- where ridges spilt -- ridge endings and other structures.
The researchers then found that people of European descent tended to have around 5 per cent fewer bifurcations than those of African descent.
"This is the first study to look at this issue at this level of detail, and the findings are extremely promising," Ross said.
The researchers, however, warn people not to rely on this too much, because identifying ethnic background based on fingerprints needs more work.
Meanwhile, the researchers say the distinctive patterns of fingerprints can help in profiling suspects.
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