Staff Profile

Prof Robert A. Barton, BSc, M.Sc, PhD

Contact Prof Robert A. Barton (email at r.a.barton@durham.ac.uk)

Interests

I am interested in brain evolution and evolutionary neuroscience, cognition, human and primate behaviour, sexual selection, the evolution of reproductive strategies, and the evolution of sleep patterns. I developed and tested the 'Visual brain hypothesis' for primate brain size evolution, and have recently become interested in the underestimated role of the cerebellum in brain evolution and cognition. I am currently writing a book on 'Cognitive Evolution and the brain' (Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, 2012-13).

Recent projects include 'The Phylogeny of Sleep' (funded by NIH) and 'Evolutionary architecture of reproduction in female mammals' funded by BBSRC/NERC), both involving Dr Isabella Capellini (now at Hull University) as well as collaborators at Harvard University and Boston University.

Biography

Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology (2005-)

President, European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (2010-)

Leverhulme Research Fellow (2012-13) - Cognitive evolution and the brain

Visting Research Fellow, All Souls Collge Oxford (2011) - Evolution of human cognition

Research Groups

Department of Anthropology

• Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group

Research Projects

Department of Anthropology

• Cognitive evolution and the brain
• Evolutionary architecture of reproduction in female mammals
• The co-evolution of sleep, brain and behaviour

Research Interests

• Behavioural ecology and sociobiology
• Comparative studies of brain size and structure in relation to behavioural ecology
• Evolution of mamalian reproductive traits
• Primate evolution and behaviour

Selected Publications

• 1: Barton, R.A. & Venditti, C. (2013). Human frontal lobes are not relatively large. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110(22): 9001–9006.
• 1: Barton, Robert A. (2012). Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 367(1599): 2097-2107.
• 2: Stephen, ID. Oldham, FH., Perrett, DI. & Barton, RA. (2012). Redness Enhances Perceived Aggression, Dominance and Attractiveness in Men’s Faces. Evolutionary Psychology 10(3): 562-572.
• 3: Dickins, T. & Barton, RA. (2012). Reciprocal causation and the proximate-ultimate distinction. Biology & Philosophy
• 4: Barton, R. A. & Capellini, I. (2011). Maternal investment, life histories and the costs of brain growth in mammals. PNAS 108(15): 6169-6174.
• 5: Capellini, Isabella., Venditti, Chris. & Barton, R.A. (2011). Placentation and maternal investment in mammals. American Naturalist 177(1): 86-98.
• 6: Capellini, I., Venditti, C. & Barton, R.A. (2010). Phylogeny and metabolic scaling in mammals. Ecology 91(9): 2783–2793.
• 7: Montgomery, Stephen., Capellini, Isabella., Venditti, Chris., Barton, Robert. & Mundy, Nick. (2010). Adaptive Evolution of Four Microcephaly Genes and the Evolution of Brain Size in Anthropoid Primates. Molecular Biology and Evolution 28(1): 625-638.
• 8: Montgomery, S.H. Capellini, I. , Barton, R.A. & Mundy, N.I. (2010). Reconstructing the ups and downs of primate brain evolution: implications for adaptive hypotheses and Homo floresiensis. BMC Biology 8(9).
• 9: Preston, Brian, T., Capellini, Isabella., McNamara, Patrick., Barton, Robert A. & Nunn, Charles, L. (2009). Parasite resistance and the adaptive significance of sleep. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9(7).
• 10: Capellini, I., McNamara, P., Preston, B., Barton, R.A. & Nunn, C.L. (2009). Ecological constraints on mammalian sleep architecture. In Evolution of sleep. McNamara, P., Barton, R.A. & Nunn, C.L. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 12-34.
• 10: Lemaître, J-F., Ramm, S.A., Barton, R.A. & Stockley, P. (2009). Sperm competition and brain size evolution in mammals. Journal of Evolutionary Biology
• 11: Willems, E.P., Barton, R.A. & Hill, R.A. (2009). Remotely sensed productivity, regional home range selection, and local range use by an omnivorous primate. Behavioral Ecology 20: 985-992.
• 13: McNamara, P., Barton, R.A. & Nunn, C.L. (2009). Evolution of Sleep: Phylogenetic and Functional Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 13: Capellini, I., McNamara, P., Preston, B., Nunn, C.L. & Barton, R.A. (2009). Does sleep play a role in memory consolidation? A comparative test. PLoS One 4(2): e4609.
• 14: Swann, J., Fabre-Nys, C. & Barton, R.A. (2009). Hormonal and pheromonal modulation of the extended amygdala: implications for social behaviour. In Hormones, Brain and Behavior. Pfaff, D.W., Arnold, A.P., Etgen, A.M., Fahrbach, S.E. & Rubin, R.T. New York: Academic Press. 1.
• 14: McNamara, P., Barton, R.A. & Nunn, C.L. (2009). Introduction. In Evolution of sleep. McNamara, P., Barton, R.A. & Nunn, C.L. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 15: Nunn, C.L., McNamara, P., Capellini, I., Preston, B.T. & Barton, R.A. (2009). Primate sleep in phylogenetic perspective. In Evolution of sleep. McNamara, P., Barton, R.A. & Nunn, C.L. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 16: Capellini, I., Nunn, C.L., McNamara, P., Preston, B.T. & Barton, R.A (2008). Energetic constraints, not predation, influence the evolution of sleep patterning in mammals. Functional ecology 22(5): 847-853.
• 17: Capellini, I., Barton, R.A., McNamara, P., Preston, B.T. & Nunn, C.L. (2008). Phylogenetic analysis of the ecology and evolution of mammalian Sleep. Evolution 62(7): 1764-1776.
• 18: Atrill, M., Gresty, K., Hill R.A. & Barton, R.A. (2008). Red shirt colour is associated with long-term team success in English football. Journal of Sports Sciences 26(6): 577-582.
• 19: Barton, R.A. (2008). Brain Modules: Mosaic Evolution. In Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Squire, L. Oxford: Academic Press. 2: 389-394.
• 20: McNamara, P., Capellini I., Harris, E., Nunn, C.L.,, Barton, R.A. & Preston, B. (2008). The Phylogeny of Sleep Database: A New Resource for Sleep Scientists. The Open Sleep Journal 1: 11-14.
• 21: Lindenfors, P., Nunn, C.L. & Barton, R.A. (2007). Primate brain architecture and selection in relation to sex. BMC Biology 5(20).
• 22: McNamara, P., Nunn, C., Barton, R.A., Harris, E. & Capellini, I. (2007). Phylogeny of sleep and dreams. In The New Science of Dreaming. Barrett, D. & McNamara, P. Wesport, Connecticut.: Praeger. I: 53-70.
• 23: Barton, R.A. (2007). Evolution of the social brain as a distributed neural system. In Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Dunbar, R.I.M. & Barrett, L.E. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 129-144.
• 24: Barton, R.A. (2007). Evolutionary specialization of mammalian cortical structure. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20(4): 1504-1511.
• 25: Lewis, K. & Barton, R.A. (2006). Amygdala size and hypothalamus size predict social play frequency in non-human primates: a comparative analysis using independent contrasts. Journal of Comparative Psychology
• 26: Barton, R.A. (2006). Mosaic evolution of brain structure in mammals. In Evolution of nervous systems. U.K.: Elsevier.
• 27: Barton, R.A. (2006). Olfactory evolution and behavioral ecology in primates. American Journal of Primatology 68: 545-558.
• 28: Barton, R.A. (2006). Primate brain evolution: integrating comparative, neurophysiological and ethological data. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 15(6): 224-236.
• 29: Hill, R.A. & Barton, R.A. (2005). Red enhances human performance in contests. Nature 435(7040): 293.
• 30: Barton, R.A. (2005). Neuroscientists need to be evolutionarily challenged. Behavioral & Brain Sciences
• 30: Barton, R.A. & Hill, R.A. (2005). Seeing red? Reply to Rowe et al. Nature 437: E10-E11.
• 31: Barton, R.A. (2004). Binocularity and brain evolution in primates. Proceeedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101(27): 10113-10115.
• 32: Nunn, C.L., Altizer, S., Sechrest, W., Jones, K., Barton, R.A. & Gittleman, J. (2004). Parasite Pressure and Evolutionary Diversification in Primates. American Naturalist 162: 597-614.
• 33: Barton, R.A., Aggleton J. & Grenyer, R. (2003). Evolutionary coherence of the mammalian amygdala. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 270(1514): 539-543.
• 34: Lewis, K. & Barton, R.A. (2003). Playing for keeps: evolutionary relationships between social play and the cerebellum in non-human primates. Human Nature 15: 5-21.
• 35: Whiting, B. & Barton R.A. (2003). The evolution of the cortico-cerebellar complex in primates: anatomical connections predict patterns of correlated evolution. Journal of Human Evolution 44(1): 3-10.
• 36: Barton, R.A. (2002). How did brains evolve? Nature 415: 134-135.
• 37: Deaner, R., Barton, R.A. & van Schaik, C.P. (2002). Primate brains and life histories. In The evolution of primate life histories. Kappeler, P. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 233-265.
• 38: Nunn, C.L. & Barton, R.A. (2001). Comparative methods for studying primate adaptation. Evolutionary Anthropology 10: 81-98.
• 39: Arnold, K. & Barton, R.A. (2001). Post-conflict behaviour of spectacled leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus) I: Reconciliation. International Journal of Primatology 22: 243-266.
• 40: Arnold, K. & Barton, R.A. (2001). Post-conflict behaviour of spectacled leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus) II: involvement of third parties. International Journal of Primatology 22: 267-286.
• 41: Barton, R.A. (2001). The coordinated structure of mosaic brain evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24: 282-282.
• 42: Nunn, C.L. & Barton, R.A. (2000). Allometric Slopes and Independent Contrasts: A Comparative Test of Kleiber's Law in Primate Ranging Patterns. The American Naturalist 156: 519-533.
• 44: Barton, R.A. & Harvey, P.H. (2000). Mosaic Evolution of brain structure in mammals. Nature 405: 1055-1058.
• 45: Barton, R.A. & Aggleton, J. (2000). Primate evolution and the amygdala. In The amygdala: a functional analysis. Aggleton, J. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 480-508.
• 46: Barton, R.A. (2000). Socioecology of baboons: the interaction of male and female strategies. In Primate males. Kappeler, P. Cambridge: ambridge University Press. 167-203.
• 47: Barton, R.A. (1999). The evolutionary ecology of the primate brain. In Comparative Primate Socioecology. Lee, P. Cambridge University Press. 167-203.
• 48: Barton, R.A. (1998). Visual specialisation and brain evolution in primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences) 265: 1933-1937.

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Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

• Human biology and development: animal behaviour
• Human biology and development: evolutionary theory
• Human biology and development: the brain
• People: Evolution and Biology: animal behaviour
• People: Evolution and Biology: evolutionary theory
• People: Evolution and Biology: the brain

Supervises

• Dr Isabella Capellini
• Mrs Dorota Zukowska
• Miss Caroline Howlett
• Ms Diana Wiedemann
• Ms Rei Shimoda