Acta Biologica

Background: Personal identification based on anthroposcopic characteristics, including the features of the external ear, has recently become highly desirable. This growing interest results from increasin public safety requirements, as well as the ever more numerous practical applications of somatometry and somatoscopy. Especially when there is no biological material necessary for DNA testing, and where instead there are photographs or surveillance footage, being able to identify a person based on anthroposcopic features is an attractive alternative.Aim:The aim of this paper is to investigate the structural diversity of the external ear among the female students of the University of Szczecin and to demonstrate the viability of external ear biometrics in personal identification.Materials and methods: a group of young women n = 65, students of the University of Szczecin, aged 21–29 years (̄x= 23.7). Structural differences were assessed based on photographs of the left and right ear. Individual characteristics describing the ear were classified according to the adopted criteria. The prevalence of each external ear feature included in the somatoscopic assessment was described as a percentage. Results: The majority of students included in the study had a moderately or prominently curled helix and a long crus of helix. The antihelix with its superior crus were often found to be prominent, as was the antitragus. The tragus was predominantly single and the intertragic notch – moderate. The lobe surface was observed to be rather underdeveloped; attached lobes were found in half of the participants, whereas the remainder had detached lobes.Conclusion:Ear somatoscopy may be an auxiliary method in personal identiication when video recordings or photographs are available.