Staff profile

Interests

Evolutionary biologist/anthropologist interested in brains, behaviour and cognition, using phylogenetoic comparative methods to study how these traits evolved. Developed and tested the 'Visual brain hypothesis' for primate brain size evolution. Currently interested in the underestimated role of the cerebellum in brain evolution and cognition. Also works on the evolutionary and cultural significance of the colour red.

Recent projects include: 'The Phylogeny of Sleep' (funded by NIH, $1m); 'Evolutionary architecture of reproduction in female mammals' (funded by BBSRC/NERC, £248k); 'Cognitive Evolution and the brain' (Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, £38k).

• 2018: Osman Hill Memorial medal awarded by Primate Society of Great Britain:
• Leverhulme Research Fellow (2012-13) - Cognitive evolution and the brain
• Visting Research Fellow, All Souls Collge Oxford (2011) - Evolution of human cognition
• President, European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (2010-2013)
• Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology (2005-)
• President, Primate Society of Great Britain (2001-2005)
• PhD in Primate Behavioural Ecology (1990)

• Behavioural ecology and sociobiology
• Evolution of mamalian reproductive traits
• Primate evolution and behaviour
• Brain evolution
• Cognitive evolution

• 2024: Christopherson Knott Research Fellow, Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University: Fellow and Principal Investigator on interdisciplinary project on 'Syntactical Structures and the Evolution of Mind and Culture'
• 2020: Senior Editor, Proceedings of the Royal Society B:
• 2018: Osman Hill Memorial medal awarded by Primate Society of Great Britain:
• 2014: Associate Editor, Proceedings of the Royal Society B:
• 2012: Leverhulme Research Fellow: Project on 'Cognitive evolution and the brain'
• 2011: Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford: Participant in multi-national project on 'Evolution of human cognition'
• 2010: President, European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association:
• 2009: Darwin's Birthday Party (Natural History Museum): invited speaker:

Chapter in book

• McNamara, P., Barton, R., & Nunn, C. (2009). Introduction. In P. McNamara, R. Barton, & C. Nunn (Eds.), Evolution of sleep. Cambridge University Press
• Nunn, C., McNamara, P., Capellini, I., Preston, B., & Barton, R. (2009). Primate sleep in phylogenetic perspective. In P. McNamara, R. Barton, & C. Nunn (Eds.), Evolution of sleep. Cambridge University Press
• Capellini, I., McNamara, P., Preston, B., Barton, R., & Nunn, C. (2009). Ecological constraints on mammalian sleep architecture. In P. McNamara, R. Barton, & C. Nunn (Eds.), Evolution of sleep (12-34). Cambridge University Press
• Swann, J., Fabre-Nys, C., & Barton, R. (2009). Hormonal and pheromonal modulation of the extended amygdala: implications for social behaviour. In D. Pfaff, A. Arnold, A. Etgen, S. Fahrbach, & R. Rubin (Eds.), Hormones, Brain and Behavior. (2nd ed.). Academic Press
• Barton, R. (2008). Brain Modules: Mosaic Evolution. In L. Squire (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (389-394). Academic Press
• Barton, R. (2007). Evolution of the social brain as a distributed neural system. In R. Dunbar, & L. Barrett (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (129-144). Oxford University Press
• McNamara, P., Nunn, C., Barton, R., Harris, E., & Capellini, I. (2007). Phylogeny of sleep and dreams. In D. Barrett, & P. McNamara (Eds.), The New Science of Dreaming (53-70). Praeger
• Barton, R. (2006). Mosaic evolution of brain structure in mammals. In Evolution of nervous systems. Elsevier
• Deaner, R., Barton, R., & van Schaik, C. (2002). Primate brains and life histories. In P. Kappeler (Ed.), The evolution of primate life histories (233-265). The University of Chicago Press
• Barton, R. (2000). Socioecology of baboons: the interaction of male and female strategies. In P. Kappeler (Ed.), Primate males (167-203). ambridge University Press
• Barton, R., & Aggleton, J. (2000). Primate evolution and the amygdala. In J. Aggleton (Ed.), The amygdala: a functional analysis (480-508). Oxford University Press
• Barton, R. (2000). Ecological and social factors in primate brain evolution. In S. Boinski, & P. Garber (Eds.), On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. Chicago University Press
• Barton, R. (1999). The evolutionary ecology of the primate brain. In P. Lee (Ed.), Comparative Primate Socioecology (167-203). Cambridge University Press

Edited book

• McNamara, P., Barton, R., & Nunn, C. (Eds.). (2009). Evolution of Sleep: Phylogenetic and Functional Perspectives. Cambridge University Press

Journal Article

• Peperkoorn, L. S., Hill, R. A., Barton, R. A., & Pollet, T. V. (in press). Meta-analysis of the red advantage in combat sports. Scientific Reports,
• Rosen, S., & Barton, R. (2025). The Brains and Bones Project: Using Embodied Teaching to Teach Embodiment. Teaching Anthropology, 14(1), Article DT1. https://doi.org/10.22582/ta.v14i1.689
• Püschel, T. A., Nicholson, S. L., Baker, J., Barton, R. A., & Venditti, C. (2024). Hominin brain size increase has emerged from within-species encephalization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(49), Article e2409542121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2409542121
• Collaro, E., Barton, R. A., Ainge, J., & Easton, A. (2024). Measuring episodic memory and mental time travel: crossing the species gap. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379(1913), Article 20230406. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0406
• Venditti, C., Baker, J., & Barton, R. A. (2024). Co-evolutionary dynamics of mammalian brain and body size. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 8, 1534–1542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02451-3
• Marley, C. L., Pollard, T. M., Barton, R. A., & Street, S. E. (2022). A systematic review of sex differences in rough and tumble play across non-human mammals. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 76(12), Article 158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03260-z
• DeCasien, A. R., Barton, R. A., & Higham, J. P. (2022). Understanding the human brain: insights from comparative biology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(5), 432-445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.02.003
• Barrett, L., Henzi, S. P., & Barton, R. A. (2022). Experts in action: why we need an embodied social brain hypothesis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377(1844), https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0533
• Powell, L. E., Barton, R. A., & Street, S. E. (2019). Maternal investment, life histories, and the evolution of brain structure in primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1911), Article 20191608. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1608
• Miller, I. F., Barton, R. A., & Nunn, C. L. (2019). Quantitative uniqueness of human brain evolution revealed through phylogenetic comparative analysis. eLife, 8, Article e41250. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.41250
• Shimoda, R., Campbell, A., & Barton, R. (2018). Women’s emotional and sexual attraction to men across the menstrual cycle. Behavioral Ecology, 29(1), 51-59. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx124
• Barton, R. A., & Montgomery, S. H. (2018). Proportional versus relative size as metrics in human brain evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(1), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817200116
• Powell, L. E., Isler, K., & Barton, R. A. (2017). Re-evaluating the link between brain size and behavioural ecology in primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284(1865), https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1765
• Jucker, J., Thornborrow, T., Beierholm, U., Burt, D., Barton, R., Evans, E., Jamieson, M., & Boothroyd, L. (2017). Nutritional status and the influence of TV consumption on female body size ideals in populations recently exposed to the media. Scientific Reports, 7(1), Article 8438. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08653-z
• Shuker, D. M., Barrett, L., Dickins, T. E., Scott-Phillips, T. C., & Barton, R. A. (2017). General intelligence does not help us understand cognitive evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, Article e218. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x16001771
• Barton, R. A. (2017). How to get all your eggs in one basket?. Science, 356(6344), 1249-1254. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaj1945
• Borries, C., Sandel, A., Koenig, A., Fernandez-Duque, E., Kamilar, J., Amoroso, C., Barton, R., Bray, J., Di Fiore, A., Gilby, I., Gordon, A., Mundry, R., Port, M., Powell, L., Pusey, A., Spriggs, A., & Nunn, C. (2016). Transparency, Usability, and Reproducibility: Guiding Principles for Improving Comparative Databases Using Primates as Examples. Evolutionary Anthropology, 25(5), 232-238. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21502
• Montgomery, S., Mundy, N., & Barton, R. (2016). Brain evolution and development: adaptation, allometry and constraint. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283(1838), Article 20160433. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0433
• Barton, R., & Cappellini, I. (2016). Sleep, Evolution and Brains. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 87(2), 65-68. https://doi.org/10.1159/000443716
• Capellini, I., Nunn, C. L., & Barton, R. A. (2015). Microparasites and placental invasiveness in eutherian mammals. PLoS ONE, 10(7), Article e0132563. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132563
• Wiedemann, D., Burt, D., Hill, R., & Barton, R. (2015). Red clothing increases perceived dominance, aggression and anger. Biology Letters, 11(5), Article 20150166. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0166
• Howlett, C., Setchell, J., Hill, R., & Barton, R. (2015). The 2D:4D digit ratio and social behaviour in wild female chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in relation to dominance, aggression, interest in infants, affiliation and heritability. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 69(1), 61-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1817-5
• Barton, R., & Venditti, C. (2014). Rapid Evolution of the Cerebellum in Humans and Other Great Apes. Current Biology, 24(20), 2440-2444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.08.056
• Mars, R., Neubert, F.-X., Verhagen, L., Sallet, J., Miller, K., Dunbar, R., & Barton, R. (2014). Primate comparative neuroscience using magnetic resonance imaging: promises and challenges. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 8, Article 298. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00298
• Montgomery, S., Barton, R., & Mundy, N. (2014). ASPM and mammalian brain evolution: A case study in the difficulty in making macroevolutionary inferences about gene-phenotype associations. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1778), Article 20131743. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1743
• Dickins, T., & Barton, R. (2013). Reciprocal causation and the proximate-ultimate distinction. Biology and Philosophy, 28(5), 747-756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-012-9345-z
• Barton, R., & Venditti, C. (2013). Human frontal lobes are not relatively large. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(22), 9001-9006. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215723110
• Barton, R. A. (2012). Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367(1599), 2097-2107. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0112
• Stephen, I., Oldham, F., Perrett, D., & Barton, R. (2012). Redness Enhances Perceived Aggression, Dominance and Attractiveness in Men’s Faces. Evolutionary Psychology, 10(3), 562-572
• Barton, R., & Capellini, I. (2011). Maternal investment, life histories and the costs of brain growth in mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(15), 6169-6174. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019140108
• Montgomery, S., Capellini, I., Venditti, C., Barton, R., & Mundy, N. (2011). Adaptive Evolution of Four Microcephaly Genes and the Evolution of Brain Size in Anthropoid Primates. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28(1), 625-638. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msq237
• Capellini, I., Venditti, C., & Barton, R. (2011). Placentation and maternal investment in mammals. The American Naturalist, 177(1), 86-98. https://doi.org/10.1086/657435
• Capellini, I., Venditti, C., & Barton, R. (2010). Phylogeny and metabolic scaling in mammals. Ecology, 91(9), 2783-2793. https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0817
• Montgomery, S., Capellini, I., Barton, R., & Mundy, N. (2010). Reconstructing the ups and downs of primate brain evolution: implications for adaptive hypotheses and Homo floresiensis. BMC Biology, 8(9), https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-8-9
• Lemaître, J.-F., Ramm, S., Barton, R., & Stockley, P. (2009). Sperm competition and brain size evolution in mammals. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 22(11), 2215–2221. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01837.x
• Willems, E., Barton, R., & Hill, R. (2009). Remotely sensed productivity, home range selection and local range use by an omnivorous primate. Behavioral Ecology, 20(5), 985-992. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arp087
• Capellini, I., McNamara, P., Preston, B., Preston, B., Nunn, C., & Barton, R. (2009). Does sleep play a role in memory consolidation? A comparative test. PLoS ONE, 4(2), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004609
• Preston, B. T., Capellini, I., McNamara, P., Barton, R. A., & Nunn, C. L. (2009). Parasite resistance and the adaptive significance of sleep. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 9(7), https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-9-7
• Capellini, I., Nunn, C., McNamara, P., Preston, B., & Barton, R. (2008). Energetic constraints, not predation, influence the evolution of sleep patterning in mammals. Functional Ecology, 22(5), 847-853. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01449.x
• McNamara, P., Capellini, I., Harris, E., Nunn, C., Barton, R., & Preston, B. (2008). The Phylogeny of Sleep Database: A New Resource for Sleep Scientists. The Open sleep journal, 1, 11-14
• Capellini, I., Barton, R., McNamara, P., Preston, B., & Nunn, C. (2008). Phylogenetic analysis of the ecology and evolution of mammalian Sleep. Evolution: International Journal of Organic Evolution, 62(7), 1764-1776. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00392.x
• Atrill, M., Gresty, K., Hill, R., & Barton, R. (2008). Red shirt colour is associated with long-term team success in English football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26(6), 577-582. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410701736244
• Lindenfors, P., Nunn, C., & Barton, R. (2007). Primate brain architecture and selection in relation to sex. BMC Biology, 5(20), https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-5-20
• Barton, R. (2007). Evolutionary specialization of mammalian cortical structure. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20(4), 1504-1511
• Barton, R. (2006). Primate brain evolution: integrating comparative, neurophysiological and ethological data. Evolutionary Anthropology, 15(6), 224-236. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.20105
• Barton, R. (2006). Neuroscientists need to be evolutionarily challenged. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(1), 13-14. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X06239013
• Lewis, K., & Barton, R. (2006). Amygdala size and hypothalamus size predict social play frequency in non-human primates: a comparative analysis using independent contrasts. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120(1), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.120.1.31
• Barton, R. (2006). Olfactory evolution and behavioral ecology in primates. American Journal of Primatology, 68, 545-558. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20251
• Barton, R., & Hill, R. (2005). Seeing red? Reply to Rowe et al. Nature Cell Biology, 437, E10-E11. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04307
• Hill, R., & Barton, R. (2005). Red enhances human performance in contests. Nature, 435(7040), https://doi.org/10.1038/435293a
• Barton, R. (2004). Binocularity and brain evolution in primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(27), 10113-10115. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0401955101
• Nunn, C., Altizer, S., Sechrest, W., Jones, K., Barton, R., & Gittleman, J. (2004). Parasite Pressure and Evolutionary Diversification in Primates. The American Naturalist, 162, 597-614. https://doi.org/10.1086/378721
• Barton, R., Aggleton, J., & Grenyer, R. (2003). Evolutionary coherence of the mammalian amygdala. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 270(1514), 539-544. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2276
• Lewis, K., & Barton, R. (2003). Playing for keeps: evolutionary relationships between social play and the cerebellum in non-human primates. Human Nature, 15, 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-004-1001-0
• Whiting, B., & Barton, R. (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. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0047-2484%2802%2900162-8
• Barton, R. (2002). How did brains evolve?. Nature, 415, 134-135. https://doi.org/10.1038/415134a
• Nunn, C., & Barton, R. (2001). Comparative methods for studying primate adaptation. Evolutionary Anthropology, 10, 81-98
• Arnold, K., & Barton, R. (2001). Post-conflict behaviour of spectacled leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus) I: Reconciliation. International Journal of Primatology, 22, 243-266
• Arnold, K., & Barton, R. (2001). Post-conflict behaviour of spectacled leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus) II: involvement of third parties. International Journal of Primatology, 22, 267-286
• Barton, R. (2001). The coordinated structure of mosaic brain evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 282-282. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x01253953
• Barton, R., & Harvey, P. (2000). Mosaic Evolution of brain structure in mammals. Nature, 405, 1055-1058. https://doi.org/10.1038/35016580
• Nunn, C., & Barton, R. (2000). Allometric Slopes and Independent Contrasts: A Comparative Test of Kleiber's Law in Primate Ranging Patterns. The American Naturalist, 156, 519-533. https://doi.org/10.1086/303405
• Barton, R. (1998). Visual specialisation and brain evolution in primates