When I was 8 I was given a book about fingerprints, so took all the people in my class at school. The weird thing was all the people who were left handed had whorls. My father is partly, and has about 8, but have never had a large enough sample to test my theory.

This is a whorl

You can be part of the cutting edge of research!
So please can all the left-handed readers check their fingerprints and give a whorl count from 10 here, plus those who are ambidextrous. I recently told a left-handed society this theory and they'd never heard of it, and said currently there was no known reason anyone had found for it.

Ok, Satguru, thanks to you I know a little more about fingerprints than I did before. I am indeed left-handed, and upon careful examination of my fingertips with a magnifying glass, I don't see any whorls. I found this page for reference purposes, and my fingerprints seem to be more of the tentarch type, with lots of almost vertical lines.

You know I've never seen anyone with arches, let alone tented. That is one rare hand you've got there!

Loops are by far the commonest, I have 8, plus a double loop and loop/whorl combination. Completely right handed.

That link doesn't work for me Cinnamon I'd like to see it though.

I'm ambidextrous, i mainly write and draw with my left hand everything else is right handed.

If you do a google/yahoo image search for fingerprints, the first couple seem to be whorls. Pure chance that is!

They have little circles in the middle, that's the feature.

I wonder if you're looking deeply enough Satguru. I have arches, tentarches and loops.

bluee, the url is www.fingerprints.tk
Tons of information!

I think I stopped checking people when I was about 9, so probably ran out of steam. But I believe in all our class and my family and friends I couldn't find one arch.
Technically the rarest are combinations, as they vary a lot, and appear less frquently than any others, so though 8 of my fingertips are common, at least one is very rare!

I'm left-handed, and I only have 2...both on my right hand!

I'm mainly left handed and have 8 loops, one tented arch and one central pocket loop.My left hand is all loops.

I think my theory has hit the dust! But science is to find the answers that are there, not the ones we want!

I am left handed and have whorls, but, lots of people do. My whole family does, an I am the only lefty.

Trying to figure if you are left or right handed can be a puzzle. I write with my left hand. I hold a fork in my left hand and knife in my right hand. I don't switch. I throw and catch right handed. What am I? It looks like the only thing I do left handed is write and hold a fork and spoon. The mouse is at my right hand. I can't use it left handed.

Being right or left handed isn't an absolute, it's a dominance. But in between the mainly exclusive one or other there are ambidextrous or like you multi (?) dextrous (made that up) who vary for each function. Left footed people are far more common than left handed if you watch football/soccer but they are mainly right handed, and I've seen more people play cricket left handed but golf right handed. Just makes us more interesting

It just tough having to always explain when someone asks if I am left or right handed. My strong hand and foot is my right but I write left handed, strange.

Has anyone ever found a good study on the internet on mixed handednes.

I am left handed when it comes to writing & eating, but I do everything else with my right hand. I cannot throw a ball left handed & I also am using my mouse right handed. I cannot even write on a chalk board left handed. My whole life I've always been different in this area so it's really nice to see so many that are like me.

I write left handed but do everything else right handed. And I have no whorls just 8 loops and two arches.

I am strange too! Just the opposite of most here. I write and draw with my right and do everything else with my left; like throw balls, iron, bowl,kick balls, play guitar etc. If I knew what a whorl was I would count mine. My mother, father and brother are all lefties.. I'd like to find a test to see what I really am.

I may have found the answers to all of our dilemmas:

http://www.linkshaender-beratung.de/english/Ambidextrous.htm

I am a lefty too and my fingerprints look like the picture on the page you provided. I think I may be somewhat ambidextrious because while I only write with my left I can not cut with scissors with my left, and I can't bowl left handed. I use my right hand for those things.

That is an interesting article (OK, I didn't read it all...) and no surprise to me either. The amount of damage done to children forced to switch lasts a lifetime and if we are designed with a dominance should be allowed to follow it. Luckily ideas have modernised since then though prejudice still reigns in many other areas worldwide.
But I tested my original theory here after many years and ruled it out. But I didn't have the internet till later on so it made it a lot easier to do the checks. I'm pleased to have two non-loop fingerprints, I never like being run of the mill!