Footprint

Footprints (or footmarks) are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. They may either be indentations in the ground or something placed onto the surface that was stuck to the bottom of the foot. A "trackway" is set of footprints in soft earth left by a life-form; animal tracks are the footprints, hoofprints, or pawprints of an animal.

Footprints can be followed when tracking during a hunt or can provide evidence of activities. Some footprints remain unexplained, with several famous stories from mythology and legend. Others have provided evidence of prehistoric life and behaviours.

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Footprints in detective work

The print left behind at a crime scene can give vital evidence to the perpetrator of the crime. Shoes have many different prints based on the sole design and the wear that it has received – this can help to identify suspects.[1] Photographs or castings of footprints can be taken to preserve the finding. Analysis of footprints and shoeprints is a specialist part of forensic science.

Some detective work is relatively immediate, with criminals being tracked by the footprints they left in the snow leading from the crime scene to their home or hiding place. This is usually reported as a humorous story in news publications.[2][3]

Footprints can also allow the detective to find the approximate height by the size of the foot[4], footprint and shoeprint. The Foot tends to be approximately 15% of the person's average height.[5][6]. Individualistic characteristics of the footprints like numerous creases, flatfoot character, horizontal and vertical ridges, corns, deformities etc. can help the forensic scientist in cases pertaining to criminal identification[7]. In some forensic cases, the need may also arise to estimate body weight from the size of the footprints[8].

Animal footprints

Examining animal footprints is a large part of identifying the presence of various wildlife. The most obvious way to study natural footprints is finding them on fresh snow or muddy areas. Since so many prints of related animals are nearly identical, it can take a real expert to differentiate animals within a species.

Ancient footprints

Footprints have been preserved as fossils and provide evidence of prehistoric life. Known as "ichnites", these trace fossils can give clues to the behaviour of specific species of dinosaur. The study of such fossils is known as ichnology and species known only by such evidence are known as ichnospecies. The Grallator is one example of a genus that has left no fossils other than ichnites.

For example, an international team's discovery of a set of 1.5 million-year-old human ancestor footprints in Ileret, Kenya has shown the earliest direct evidence of a modern human style of upright walking. The team believe that the prints were probably formed by the species Homo erectus.[9]

Other footprint findings

Footprints in myth and legend

The appearance of footprints, or marks interpreted as footprints, have led to numerous myths and legends. Some locations use such imprints as tourist attractions.

Examples of footprints in myth and legend include:

Footprints in popular culture

The imagery of footprints has been used in many areas of popular culture. Several poems and songs have been written about them, with the religious poem Footprints being one of the best known.

Prints or impressions of a child's feet can be kept as a memento by parents. Usually this is done using paint. The impressions of celebrity's feet, usually in concrete, may be kept in a collection such as that outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ BBC News, 2 March 1998. "Footprints help to track down criminals". Accessed 28 July 2006.
  2. ^ BBC News, 30 June 2005. "Vandal caught by his footprints". Accessed 28 July 2006.
  3. ^ BBC News, 27 April 2006. "Footprints in snow lead to court". Accessed 28 July 2006.
  4. ^ Krishan K, Sharma A (August 2007). "Estimation of stature from dimensions of hands and feet in a North Indian population". J Forensic Leg Med 14 (6): 327–32. doi:10.1016/j.jcfm.2006.10.008. PMID 17239650. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1353-1131(06)00224-0. 
  5. ^ Krishan K (March 2008). "Estimation of stature from footprint and foot outline dimensions in Gujjars of North India". Forensic Sci. Int. 175 (2-3): 93–101. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.05.014. PMID 17590549. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0379-0738(07)00541-5. 
  6. ^ Krishan K (December 2008). "Determination of stature from foot and its segments in a north Indian population". Am J Forensic Med Pathol 29 (4): 297–303. doi:10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181847dd3. PMID 19259013. http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0195-7910&volume=29&issue=4&spage=297. 
  7. ^ Krishan K (March 2008). "Estimation of stature from footprint and foot outline dimensions in Gujjars of North India". Forensic Sci. Int. 175 (2-3): 93–101. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.05.014. PMID 17590549. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0379-0738(07)00541-5. 
  8. ^ Krishan K (July 2008). "Establishing correlation of footprints with body weight—forensic aspects". Forensic Sci. Int. 179 (1): 63–9. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.04.015. PMID 18515026. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0379-0738(08)00178-3. 
  9. ^ Ancient 1.5 Million-Year-Old Footprints Show Earliest Evidence of Modern Foot Anatomy and Walking Newswise, Retrieved on 3 March 2009.
  10. ^ http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/lark-quarry/index.html Queensland Parks and Widelife Service: Lark Quarry Conservation Park
  11. ^ CNN: Human footprint may be oldest ever found
  12. ^ Wong K (August 2005). "Footprints to fill. Flat feet and doubts about makers of the Laetoli Tracks". Sci. Am. 293 (2): 18–9. PMID 16053127. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa004&articleID=0005C9B3-03AE-12D8-BDFD83414B7F0000. 
  13. ^ Bennett MR, Harris JW, Richmond BG, et al. (February 2009). "Early hominin foot morphology based on 1.5-million-year-old footprints from Ileret, Kenya". Science 323 (5918): 1197–201. Bibcode 2009Sci...323.1197B. doi:10.1126/science.1168132. PMID 19251625. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/323/5918/1197. 
  14. ^ Schmincke, H.-U., Kutterolf, S., Perez, J., Rausch, J., Freundt, A., Strauch, W. (2008). "Walking through volcanic mud: the 2,100 year-old Acahualinca footprints (Nicaragua). I Stratigraphy, lithology, volcanology and age of the Acahualinca section". Bulletin of Volcanology 71 (5): 479–93. Bibcode 2008BVol..tmp...48S. doi:10.1007/s00445-008-0235-9. http://www.springerlink.com/content/f6t36212067t8236/. 
  15. ^ Gathering the Jewels. "Prehistoric footprints, Uskmouth, Glamorgan". Accessed 28 July 2006.
  16. ^ Nakamura, J.J.M. (2009). "Hominid Footprints in Recent Volcanic Ash: New Interpretations from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park". Ichnos. 16: 118–123. doi:10.1080/10420940802471001. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a907763744~db=all~jumptype=rss. 
  17. ^ "National Geographic press release 08/14/1997 Footprints from Dawn of Modern Humans found". http://www.nationalgeographic.com/society/ngo/events/97/footprints/release.html. Retrieved 2008-09-08. 
  18. ^ Japanese Buddhist Statuary, 14 January 2005. "Stone footprints of the Buddha". Accessed 28 July 2006.
  19. ^ MysteriousBritain.co.uk. "The Devil's Footprints". Accessed 28 July 2006.
  20. ^ "Libra the Scales". Accessed 28 July 2006.