Short answer Koala fingerprints look so much like human ones that they're hard to tell apart even under an electron microscope.
A koala, hugging a tree tight. Look closely at its fingertips and you'll find a surprise.
Koalas have fingerprints. Just like people, they have patterns on the tips of their fingers.
In one study, even under an electron microscope, koala and human fingerprints were hard to tell apart.
What if the koala did it?
Koalas are only very distantly related to us. Their relatives are kangaroos, not gorillas or chimps.
Koalas spend most of the day up in trees. They live hanging on, gripping the branches tight.
Animals that climb trees or live by gripping things tight are thought to have each developed fingerprints separately.
So if you use your hands the same way, your fingerprints look alike too
Sources
Photo credits
- Koala climbing tree.jpg, Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
- Koala in Zoo Duisburg.jpg, Till Niermann, CC BY 3.0 (source)
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