CARTA Glossary

Open chromatin, allowing information to be read.

Sequences at a locus that encode proteins

Eastern Senegal. Excavations have led to the the discovery of paleolithic occupations from different periods, cultures, and lithic technologies.  

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).

Searching for wild food or provisions as opposed to cultivating food crops or keeping livestock.

Human frontal and parietal lobes form a network that is crucially involved in the selection of sensory contents by attention.

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.

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.

Movement of alleles between populations.

A branch of theoretical population genetics that models the transmission of genes and cultural traits from one generation to the next, exploring how they interact.

A biological characteristic with a heritable basis that improves reproduction and/or survival and results from evolution by natural selection.

The study of genes and their inheritance.

All DNA in a cell. Also refers to the DNA sequence that typifies an individual or species.

Modification of the genome at the level of DNA (e.g. methylation) or its packaging into chromatin (histone tail modification via phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination or glycosylation).

The two alleles at one or more diploid loci.

A taxonomic rank used in biological classification of living and fossil organisms to group closely related species. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name plus species name forms the binomial species name (e.g. Homo sapiens).

The process of forming the characteristic folds of the cerebral cortex.  The peak of such a fold is called a gyrus (plural: gyri), and its trough is called a sulcus (plural: sulci).

One set of unpaired chromosomes.

Differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, and health care as experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.

A statistic used in the fields of breeding and genetics that estimates the degree of variation in a phenotypic trait in a population that is due to genetic variation between individuals in that population.

Have two different alleles at a locus.

The elongated ridges on the floor of each lateral ventricle of the brain, thought to be a center of emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system.

Chief protein components of chromatin and can be chemically modified as part of epigenetics.

A relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes.

A classification of species comprising human and extinct relatives (ex. Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Ardipithecus, etc.- not all are ancestral to humans) following the split with the common ancestor with chimpanzees.

An extinct hominin species with fossil evidence from 1.9 million (possibly earlier) to 70 thousand years ago and found from Africa to Indonesia. May have been the first hominin to leave Africa. H. erectus DNA may be retrievable from other species due to archaic admixture. 

Similarity in DNA or phenotype because of shared evolutionary history from a common ancestor.

Have two identical alleles at a locus

Segments of the human genome that are conserved throughout vertebrate evolution but are strikingly different in humans. They are named according to their degree of difference between humans and chimpanzees (HAR1 showing the largest degree of human-chimpanzee differences).

Breeding among recognized species.

Less than the normal amount of oxygen reaching the tissues; also, low partial pressure of oxygen at high elevations (hypobaric hypoxia).

Those who do not store food, but consume it within a day or two of obtaining it. This means there is no opportunity to accumulate surplus.

Insertions or deletions of DNA sequence.

The power of minds to be about, to represent, or to stand for, things, properties and states of affairs. Refers to the ability of the mind to form representations and should not be confused with intention. Beliefs about others’ beliefs display what is sometimes known as “higher-order intentionality.”

The interval of life between conception and birth.

Sequences between eons, don't encode proteins

Each of two or more forms of the same element that contain equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, and hence differ in relative atomic mass but not in chemical properties; in particular, a radioactive form of an element.

Chromosome number in the cell nucleus.

A palaeoanthropological area in the southern Main Ethiopian Rift that was discovered 1991 The Konso-Gardula sediments span ~ 1.9 mya to 1.3 mya. Early Homo fossils and Acheulean stone tools have been found here. 

Non-random inheritance of alleles at different loci (due to low recombination).

Currently the oldest known stone tools consisting of 150 artefact found in Lomekwian, Kenya, close to Lake Turkana. ~3.3 mya

A substance required in relatively large amounts by living organisms: Fats, proteins, carbohydrates in an animal diet or chemical elements such as potassium, magnesium, calcium as required by plants.

A genotypic or phenotypic trait that is (or has become) more harmful than helpful in determining survival and reproductive success (in contrast to an adaptation, which is more helpful than harmful).

A protein kinase, which in humans is encoded by the MTOR gene.

The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.

A stone tool type consisting of small blades or points, called microliths, that were typically used in composite tools, such as an arrow point fastened to a haft. ~35 kya - 3 kya

The second subdivision of the Paleolithic, or Stone Age and consist of use of prepared cores (Levallois Technique) and hafted tools and weapons. ~300 kya -30 kya.

The element of an individual that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.