Catagen hairs fall somewhere in between. In court, experts must testify about the ethnic origins of the hair, the part of the body it came from and the stage of its growth cycle. It's easy to distinguish among the three types of growth phases because of the appearance of the hair itself and its follicle. Because they're so loosely connected to the scalp, most hair specimens found at a crime scene tend to be telogen. But if the victim forcefully pulled hairs from the suspect, they're likely to be anagen.
Hair analysis includes both obvious characteristics and traits observable only under a microscope.
Under the microscope By using a microscope to see the internal and surface structures of hairs, analysts can compare known and unknown specimens. But microscopic analysis of hair has its limitations. The technique is relatively weak as a means of providing a good identification. If the hair specimen from the crime scene was too small or fragmented, or displayed too few microscopic identifying features, the analyst would render an inconclusive report. If structural characteristics observed for the hairs being compared were dissimilar, the report would indicate that the hairs had different origins.