A forensic examiner compares the cuticle of a questioned hair recovered from a suspect's shirt with a known sample from the victim. Which cuticle scale pattern is characteristic of human hair?

• A Coronal, crown-like scales encircling the shaft
• B Spinous, petal-shaped protruding scales
• C Imbricate, flattened overlapping scales ✓
• D Pectinate, comb-like parallel ridges

Explanation

Human hair bears imbricate scales, flattened and overlapping like roof tiles, visible microscopically along the shaft. Coronal scales are typical of rodents and bats, and spinous scales of cats and some other animals; both are essentially never found in normal human hair. Pectinate is not a recognised scale classification in hair examination. Scale pattern alone cannot individualise the source, but it reliably separates human from many animal hairs.

Reference: Saferstein, Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science, 11th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.