CARTA Glossary
Word | Definition | Related Vocabulary |
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Coalescent Theory |
Models evolution backward in time to infer historical population size, mutation rate, allele age, and allele frequency change by selection and drift. |
Coalescence |
Coccobacillus |
A type of short rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria. Some species of coccobacillus cause disease in humans. |
Bacteria, Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Staining |
Codon |
A sequence of three nucleotides along a DNA or RNA chain encoding a single amino acid, and start or stop. |
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Cognition |
The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. |
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Cognitive Trade-off Hypothesis |
As proposed by Tetsuro Matsuzawa, postulates that a trade-off between superior language facility at the expense of memory ability based on social life occurred during human evolution. In comparison to chimpanzees, who possess superior short-term memory abilities and no known language, humans de-emphasized short term memory for extraordinary language capacity, which may be one mechanism for increased collaboration and altruism in humans. |
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Combinatorial Phonology |
A universal property of human language in which a set of basic, distinct units (phonemes, syllables, or hand shapes) can be combined in many different ways. |
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Commensal |
A relationship between organisms where one derives food or other benefits from the other without hurting or helping it. |
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Communicable (Disease) |
An illnesses that is transmittable from an infected person or animal to another person or animal through direct contact or indirectly via contaminated food, water, or a vector. |
Transmissible (Disease), Vector (Epidemiology) |
Comparative Method |
A method of evolutionary analysis that uses comparisons across independently evolved species, as a means for studying historical and physical constraints. |
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Competence |
Capability for effective function in the environment, potential or manifested. |
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Complex Trait |
A phenotypic trait with variability influenced by numerous genes (each with small effects). |
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Compositionality |
The principle governing the combination of meaningful linguistic elements into higher order units of meaning. Compositionality guarantees that the meaning of the whole will be determined by the meaning of its parts and rules used to combine them (Kluender, 2020). |
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Congenital |
A disease or physical abnormality present from birth. |
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Conspecifics |
Members of the same species. |
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Contagious (Disease) |
Infectious diseases that can be spread from organism to organism by direct or indirect contact. Contagious disease is a subset of communicable, infectious, and transmissible. |
Communicable (Disease), Infectious (Disease), Transmissible (Disease) |
Continuity (aka Phyletic Gradualism) |
An evolutionary model in which change occurs gradually over time. Compare with Punctuated Equilibrium. |
Punctuated Equilibrium |
Control Group |
A group of individuals in a medical study who receive either no treatment or the standard treatment, which is compared against a group who receive the treatment being studied. |
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Cooperative Breeding |
A social system in which parents and other individuals within the group provide care for offspring. |
Alloparenting |
Copy Number Variation |
A phenomenon in which sections of the genome are repeated on the same or different chromosome and the number of repeats in the genome varies between individuals in the human population. Such repeats can include functional genes. |
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Coronary Thrombosis |
Blockage of blood flow to the heart, caused by atherosclerosis and blood clotting in a coronary artery. The most common kind of heart attack. |
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Coronavirus |
A member of the large, single-stranded RNA virus family (Coronaviridae) named for their ring, or corona, shape. They are also characterized by a fatty outer lining that is covered with club-shaped spike proteins. Coronaviruses are known to infect many mammals (including us humans) and birds. Different coronaviruses are responsible for causing MERS, SARS, and COVID-19. |
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS, Proteins, RNA virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) |
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) |
An infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and then spread globally, resulting in a pandemic. Common symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, sputum production, and muscle and joint pains, and loss of smell and taste. Severe cases may progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, septic shock, and blood clots. Spread of the virus occurs between people during close contact, most often via small droplets produced by coughing, sneezing, and talking. Less commonly, people may become infected by touching a contaminated surface and then touching their face. |
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), Clotting (Blood), Infectious (Disease), Pandemic, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2), Virus |
Cortical Fields |
A segment of the cerebral cortex that carries out a given function. |
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Corvids (Corvidae) |
The family of stout-billed passerine birds (an order of birds characterized by an arrangement of toes with three forward and one backward to facilitate perching) including the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. |
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Corvus brachyrhynchos |
The American crow. |
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Coverage |
The number of reads for a given locus. |
Sequencing |
CpG site |
Locus where a cytosine nucleotide is followed by guanine nucleotide in the linear sequence of bases. Cytosines in CpG dinucleotides can be methylated to form 5-methyl cytosine, a common epigenetic mark. |
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Cranial Neural Crest Cells | Cells that become the structures of the endocranium and face. | |
CRISPR |
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. A method that can mutate a specified locus. |
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Culture |
Behavior and norms that are shared, learned, and socially transmitted. |
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Cumulative Cooperative Culture |
In human culture, the accumulation of cultural modifications over time (“ratchet effect”) resulting from social learning, active teaching, social motivations for conformity, and normative sanctions against non-conformity. |
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Cytidine monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (Cmah) |
An enzyme that is encoded by the CMAH gene. In most mammals, this enzyme modifies sialic acids [it modifies N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) into N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc)]. The human lineage lost the function of the CMAH gene over 2 million years ago causing human cells to lack Neu5Gc and be coated with an excess of Neu5Ac. |
Sialic Acids |
Cytokine “Storm” |
A severe immune reaction in which the body releases too many cytokines into the blood too quickly. Signs and symptoms include high fever, inflammation, severe fatigue, and nausea. This may be severe or even life- threatening, leading to multiple organ failure. |
Cytokines, Inflammation |
Cytokines |
A broad and loose category of small proteins secreted by certain cells of the immune system and are important in cell signaling and have an effect on other cells. |
Proteins |
Daughter Neuron |
Resulting cell(s) formed when neural stem cells or progenitor cells undergo cellular division. |
Neural Stem Cell |
de Novo |
A Latin adverb meaning “from the new.” A new genetic variant that is the result of a mutation in a germ cell (egg or sperm) of one of the parents, or a variant that arises in the fertilized egg during embryogenesis. (See Novel) |
Novel (Disease) |
Demography |
Study of population size over time. |
Population |
Dengue Fever |
A tropical disease caused by the Dengue virus and spread several species of female Aedes mosquitos, especially A. aegypti. Symptoms may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash. Severe infections may develop into Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever or Dengue Shock Syndrome. |
Aedes Mosquitos, Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, Dengue Shock Syndrome, Dengue Virus, Infection |
Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever |
A severe form of Dengue Fever, which includes bleeding and blood platelet and blood plasma leakage. |
Dengue Fever |
Dengue Shock Syndrome |
A severe form of Dengue Fever in which dangerously low blood pressure occurs. |
Dengue Fever |
Dengue Virus |
The cause of Dengue Fever. It is a mosquito- borne, single positive-stranded RNA virus of the genus, Flavivirus. Origin: Africa and Asia. |
Dengue Fever, Genus, RNA virus |
Denisovans |
An extinct hominin population contemporary with Neanderthals that hybridized with ancient humans and Neanderthals. Knowledge of Denisovan morphology is limited to two small fossils found in Siberia and a jaw in Tibet. |
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Dental Calculus |
Calcified dental plaque, provides information on diet, disease, health, microbiome and protects the genetic information within the tooth from degradation. |
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Derived Alleles |
Variants arising since last common ancestor. |
Polymorphism |
Developmental Adaptation |
An irreversible biological characteristic acquired during growth and development in a stressful environment. |
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Developmental Amnesia |
A selective disorder characterized by marked impairment in episodic memory despite relatively preserved semantic memory. |
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Developmental Cascade |
Spreading effects over time across systems or domains of function that result from interactions in dynamic systems and cumulatively alter development. |
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Developmental Tasks |
Psychosocial milestones or accomplishments expected of people of different ages in a given cultural and historical context; Common developmental tasks include bonding with caregivers, walking, talking, learning to read, getting along with other people, and caring for one’s children. |
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Diffusor Tensor Imaging (DTI) |
Neuroimaging of the location, orientation, and anisotropy of the brain’s white matter tracts through MRI. |
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), White Matter (Brain) |
Diploid |
Organisms with two sets of each chromosome except for XY sex chromosomes in male mammals. |
Chromosomes, Haploid, Karyotype |
Disease Phenotype |
Outwardly apparent effects of a disease. |
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Displaced Reference |
The ability to refer to entities, properties, and events at some spatial and/or temporal remove from the immediate communicative situation (Kluender, 2020). |
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Divergence |
Change in genetic content or phenotype between isolated populations or species. |
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Djurab Desert |
Northern Chad. A fossil rich desert that is most famous for the discovery of Sahelenthropous tchadensis (Toumai) in 2001. |
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DNA |
Deoxyribonucleic acid. The molecule of inheritance, which consists of sequences of the four nucleotide bases: Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine. |
Nucleotides, Sequence |
DNA Methylation |
A process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule. Methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing the sequence. When located in a gene promoter, DNA methylation typically acts to repress gene transcription. |
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DNA Sequence |
The specific order of the nucleotide bases Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine. |
Nucleotides |
Dose or Risk Gradient |
A graph showing a pattern of rising problems or undesirable outcomes as the level of trauma, exposure to disaster, or number of cumulative risk factors or ACEs increases. |
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Dual Inheritance |
A theory that human behavior is a product of two different and interacting evolutionary processes: genetic evolution and cultural evolution. Genes and culture continually interact in a feedback loop. |
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Duality of Patterning |
The ability to combine and recombine meaningless linguistic elements (sounds in spoken language, or manual features like handshape, palm orientation, movement, etc. in signed language) into meaningful units (words or signs) (Kluender, 2020). |
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Dyslexia |
A general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpreting words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence. |
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Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) |
A rare but serious and often fatal infection of Togavirus that causes encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). The virus is maintained via a bird- to-mosquito cycle, primarily by mosquitos that feed on the blood of birds. Transmission of EEE to mammals (including horses and humans) occurs via “bridge vectors,” mosquito (including those from the Aedes genus) that feed on the blood of both birds and mammals and transfer the virus. Origin: Americas. |
Aedes Mosquitos, Genus, Togavirus (Togaviridae), Virus |
Ecology |
The interaction of organisms with their physical environment, along with other organisms. |
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Effective Population Size (Ne) |
The size of an idealized population (random mating, no selection, mutation or migration) with the same rate of genetic drift as the study population. |
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Elephants (Elephantidae) |
Large herbivorous mammals recognized by their long trunks, tusks, large ear flaps, and pillar-like legs. Elephants are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia and consist of three species, the Africa bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). |
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Endemic |
In epidemiology, an infection that is constantly maintained at a baseline level in a population in a geographic area without external inputs. |
Epidemiology, Infection |
Enhancer |
Short region of DNA that can be bound by proteins to alter transcription of a gene. |
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Epidemic |
The rapid spread of a disease to a significant percent of a given population. |
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Epidemiology |
The branch of medicine that studies and analyzes the incidence, distribution, patterns, determinants, and possible control of diseases and other health factors. |
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Epigenetic |
Biological information not encoded directly in DNA. |
DNA |
Epigenetics |
A term first coined by the developmental biologist, Conrad Waddington, in 1942 to explain how a singular genotype might produce variations in phenotype across development. He argued that some level of regulation must exists “above” or “over” genes to determine when and where they are expressed. Today the term refers to stable alterations in gene expression without changes to the underlying DNA sequence. |
DNA, Epigenetic, Epigenome |
Epigenome |
Molecular modifications of the DNA and its associated histone proteins, affecting its function. |
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Euchromatin |
Open chromatin, allowing information to be read. |
Chromatin |
Eukaryotes |
Organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed within membranes. (see Prokaryotes) |
Prokaryotes |
Eumelanin |
The most common type of melanin found in human skin and hair. There are two types, brown eumelanin and black eumelanin, which are involved in pigmentation. Deficiency causes albinism. |
Melanin |
Evolutionary Medicine |
The application of modern evolutionary theory to understanding health and disease. |
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Exons |
Sequences at a locus that encode proteins |
Introns, Locus (pl. Loci) |
Falciparum Malaria |
Human-specific (malignant) malaria caused by the protozoan parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. |
Plasmodium |
Falémé Valley |
Eastern Senegal. Excavations have led to the the discovery of paleolithic occupations from different periods, cultures, and lithic technologies. |
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False Beliefs |
The ability to recognize that others can have beliefs about the world that are diverging. An important component of Theory of Mind. |
Theory of Mind (ToM) |
Fatty Acid |
A molecule composed of a long chain of lipid-carboxylic acid, which is either saturated (single bonds between the components of the fatty acid chain) or unsaturated (at least one double bond within the fatty acid chain). |
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Fitness (Darwinian) |
The relative likelihood that an allele will be represented in future generations (relative to other alleles in the same population). Compare with Reproductive Success. |
Reproductive Success |
Fixed Alleles |
Replaced all other alleles in a population. |
Polymorphism |
Fomite |
Inanimate objects (clothes, furniture, door handles, etc.) that when contaminated can transfer disease. |
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Foraging |
Searching for wild food or provisions as opposed to cultivating food crops or breeding livestock. |
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Fos |
A protein that is rapidly synthesized in neurons when they become active and therefore is used as a marker of neuron activity and is involved in regulating gene expression. |
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FOXP2 | A gene in humans that encodes for a transcription factor protein and is involved in the production of speech. | |
Fragmented Maternal Care |
A measure of abnormal mothering in rodents. Fragmentation score reflects disruptions in the temporal pattern of care typically displayed by rodents. High fragmentation scores indicate shorter nursing bouts and generally erratic behavior. |
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Frontal Lobe (Brain) |
The largest of the four major lobes of the brain in mammals, and is located at the front of each hemisphere. It is devoted to action such as skeletal movement, ocular movement, speech control, the expression of emotions. In humans, the largest part of the frontal cortex is the prefrontal cortex. |
Prefrontal Cortex (Brain) |
Frontoparietal Networks |
Human frontal and parietal lobes form a network that is crucially involved in the selection of sensory contents by attention. |
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Functional DNA |
Encodes biological information. |
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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) |
A neuroimaging technique for measuring and mapping brain activity that is noninvasive and safe. The phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is used to generate a signal that can be mapped and turned into an image of brain activity. |
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Funeral |
Intentional, ritualistic disposal of the deceased. May include behaviors such as placement of grave goods (artefacts and/or natural materials such as flowers) and positioning of interred body(ies). |
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Galago |
A number of species of prosimians that are small, nocturnal, and native to continental Africa. Also known as bushbabies. Galagos often nest in tree hollows during the day. Chimpanzees have been observed hunting with “spears” for nested galagos, and they are also hunted by Hadza hunter-gatherers. |
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Gardnerella |
A genus of Gram-variable-staining facultative anaerobic bacteria of which Gardnerella vaginalis is the only species. |
Gardnerella vaginalis, Genus, Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Staining |
Gardnerella vaginalis |
A facultatively anaerobic Gram-variable rod that is involved, together with many other bacteria, in bacterial vaginosis in some women as a result of a disruption in the normal vaginal microflora. |
Bacterial Vaginosis (BV), Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Staining |
Gastroenteritis |
Inflammation of the stomach and small intestine typically caused by a virus, but can also be caused by bacteria, parasites, and fungi. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. |
Bacteria, Inflammation, Parasite, Virus |
Gene |
DNA sequence which encodes a specific function. |
DNA, Post-translation Modifications, Translation |
Gene Expression |
The process by which the information contained within a gene (nucleotide sequence) is used to direct protein synthesis and dictate cell function. Nearly all of the cells in the body contain identical genes, but only a subset of this information is used or expressed at any time. The genes expressed in a cell determine what that cell can do. |
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Gene Flow |
Movement of alleles between populations as is achieved by mating. |
Allele |