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All Outputs (73)

Reciprocal causation and the proximate-ultimate distinction (2013)
Journal Article
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

Laland and colleagues have sought to challenge the proximate–ultimate distinction claiming that it imposes a unidirectional model of causation, is limited in its capacity to account for complex biological phenomena, and hinders progress in biology. I... Read More about Reciprocal causation and the proximate-ultimate distinction.

Human frontal lobes are not relatively large (2013)
Journal Article
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

One of the most pervasive assumptions about human brain evolution is that it involved relative enlargement of the frontal lobes.We show that this assumption is without foundation. Analysis of five independent data sets using correctly scaled measures... Read More about Human frontal lobes are not relatively large.

Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum (2012)
Journal Article
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

Much attention has focused on the dramatic expansion of the forebrain, particularly the neocortex, as the neural substrate of cognitive evolution. However, though relatively small, the cerebellum contains about four times more neurons than the neocor... Read More about Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum.

Redness Enhances Perceived Aggression, Dominance and Attractiveness in Men’s Faces (2012)
Journal Article
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

In a range of non-human primate, bird and fish species, the intensity of red coloration in males is associated with social dominance, testosterone levels and mate selection. In humans too, skin redness is associated with health, but it is not known w... Read More about Redness Enhances Perceived Aggression, Dominance and Attractiveness in Men’s Faces.

Maternal investment, life histories and the costs of brain growth in mammals (2011)
Journal Article
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

Brain size variation in mammals correlates with life histories: larger-brained species have longer gestations, mature later, and have increased lifespans. These patterns have been explained in terms of developmental costs (larger brains take longer t... Read More about Maternal investment, life histories and the costs of brain growth in mammals.

Adaptive Evolution of Four Microcephaly Genes and the Evolution of Brain Size in Anthropoid Primates (2011)
Journal Article
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

The anatomical basis and adaptive function of the expansion in primate brain size have long been studied; however, we are only beginning to understand the genetic basis of these evolutionary changes. Genes linked to human primary microcephaly have re... Read More about Adaptive Evolution of Four Microcephaly Genes and the Evolution of Brain Size in Anthropoid Primates.

Placentation and maternal investment in mammals (2011)
Journal Article
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

The mammalian placenta exhibits striking inter-specific morphological variation, yet the implications of such diversity for reproductive strategies and fetal development remain obscure. More invasive hemochorial placentae, in which fetal tissues dire... Read More about Placentation and maternal investment in mammals.

Phylogeny and metabolic scaling in mammals (2010)
Journal Article
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

The scaling of metabolic rates to body size is widely considered to be of great biological and ecological importance, and much attention has been devoted to determining its theoretical and empirical value. Most debate centres on whether the underlyin... Read More about Phylogeny and metabolic scaling in mammals.

Reconstructing the ups and downs of primate brain evolution: implications for adaptive hypotheses and Homo floresiensis (2010)
Journal Article
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

Background: Brain size is a key adaptive trait. It is often assumed that increasing brain size was a general evolutionary trend in primates, yet recent fossil discoveries have documented brain size decreases in some lineages, raising the question of... Read More about Reconstructing the ups and downs of primate brain evolution: implications for adaptive hypotheses and Homo floresiensis.

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

Research during the past two decades has produced major advances in understanding sleep within particular species. Simultaneously, molecular advances have made it possible to generate phylogenetic trees, while new analytical methods provide the tools... Read More about Evolution of Sleep: Phylogenetic and Functional Perspectives..

Sperm competition and brain size evolution in mammals. (2009)
Journal Article
Lemaître, J., Ramm, S., Barton, R., & Stockley, P. (2009). Sperm competition and brain size evolution in mammals. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01837.x

The 'expensive tissue hypothesis' predicts a size trade-off between the brain and other energetically costly organs. A specific version of this hypothesis, the 'expensive sexual tissue hypothesis', argues that selection for larger testes under sperm... Read More about Sperm competition and brain size evolution in mammals..

Primate sleep in phylogenetic perspective. (2009)
Book Chapter
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

Introduction. (2009)
Book Chapter
McNamara, P., Barton, R., & Nunn, C. (2009). Introduction. In P. McNamara, R. Barton, & C. Nunn (Eds.), Evolution of sleep. Cambridge University Press

Ecological constraints on mammalian sleep architecture. (2009)
Book Chapter
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

Remotely sensed productivity, home range selection and local range use by an omnivorous primate (2009)
Journal Article
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

Remote sensing of the environment has proved an invaluable tool to the study of animal ecology at continental to regional scales. Here, we investigated the utility of a remotely sensed index of plant productivity (the normalized difference vegetation... Read More about Remotely sensed productivity, home range selection and local range use by an omnivorous primate.

Does sleep play a role in memory consolidation? A comparative test (2009)
Journal Article
Capellini, I., McNamara, P., 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

Sleep is a pervasive characteristic of mammalian species, yet its purpose remains obscure. It is often proposed that ‘sleep is for the brain’, a view that is supported by experimental studies showing that sleep improves cognitive processes such as me... Read More about Does sleep play a role in memory consolidation? A comparative test.

Parasite resistance and the adaptive significance of sleep (2009)
Journal Article
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

Sleep is a biological enigma. Despite occupying much of an animal's life, and having been scrutinized by numerous experimental studies, there is still no consensus on its function. Similarly, no hypothesis has yet explained why species have evolved s... Read More about Parasite resistance and the adaptive significance of sleep.