Georges Debregeas et amis at the University of Paris 6 and 7 say it looks as if the ridges and whorls in fingerprints filter mechanical vibrations in a way that best allows nerve endings to sense them. The mechanoreceptors that do this job are called Pacinian corpuscles. They sit at the ends of nerves and are responsible for sensing pressure and pain. These devices sense vibrations over a wide area of skin but are sensitive only to a limited range of vibrations. They say that fingerprints resonate at about 250 Hz and so tend to filter mechanical vibrations.
This work on fingerprints should have important implications for understanding touch.
It should also help in the development of better prosthesis and may even help to give robots a better tactile sense of their own.