AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. 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.

Detailed explanation-2: -The terms shoe prints, foot prints, or footwear marks are interchangeable and refer to two types of impressions left by a person’s footwear: positve and negative. A positive, or two-dimensional, impression is created by a person transferring matter, such as dust or blood, from their shoe to the surface they walk on.

Detailed explanation-3: -Footwear marks can be broadly broken into two classes: 1) impressions which contain 3-dimensional information (e.g., on snow, wet dirt or at the beach) and 2) impressions which contain 2-dimensional information (e.g., on a floor or carpet).

Detailed explanation-4: -Footwear evidence can be found in two forms, impressions and prints. The impression is normally described as a three-dimensional impression, such as an impression in mud or a soft material; and the print is described as a print made on a solid surface by dust, powder, or a similar medium.

Detailed explanation-5: -If identifying characteristics are present in the questioned footwear impression, the examiner compares the same areas of the known shoe to determine if the size, shape, position, and orientation of these characteristics correspond.