MSc in Human Evolution and Behaviour
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Core Courses
Primate Socioecology – ANTHGH15 (Volker Sommer)
- 2 h post-graduate seminars per week
- Recommended attendance of 2 undergraduate lectures per week (ANTH7009, Primate Behaviour and Ecology)
- Assessment (core): final exam, 3000-word essay
- Assessment (option): 3000-word essay
The behaviour and ecology of living primates will be studied, as well as the general theoretical background to animal behaviour developed by evolutionary ecology. The focus is on current Darwinian paradigms about the evolution of the societies of primates. About 200 species including humans belong to this mammalian order. Like all animals, they are faced with the problems of how to survive, breed and rear offspring. Some animals do better in this regard than others - they have a higher reproductive success and their genetic information will be more frequently represented in future generations. The social behaviour of primates is particularly complex and can be viewed as to reflect attempts to maximize genetic fitness. The course asks how primates organize their social and reproductive strategies to adapt to specific environmental conditions. Topics covered will include social, mating, and breeding systems; sexual selection; parenting behaviour; ecological competition; intra-specific aggression; social intelligence (particularly deception and "language") and technological intelligence (tool use); animal rights. With visit to London Zoo.
Palaeoanthropology – ANTHGH16 (Matthew Skinner)
- 2 h post-graduate seminars per week
- Recommended attendance of one 2-hour undergraduate lecture per week (ANTH2003, Palaeoanthropology)
- Assessment (core): final exam, 3000-word essay, lab book, seminar presentation
- Assessment (option): final exam, Lab book, Seminar presentation
This course introduces the fossil evidence for human evolution and its interpretation. It includes an introduction to techniques of species recognition and phylogenetic reconstruction as well as to the molecular evidence of the human line in the Miocene (23 - 5.5 mya). The second half of the course looks at the evolution and adaptation of the genus Homo, its spread out of Africa and the controversies surrounding subsequent evolution of modern humans. -- The laboratory sessions aim to familiarize you with (1) the relevant comparative anatomy, (2) the casts of the relevant fossils, and (3) the methodology and techniques necessary to interpreter the fossil material.
Human Behavioural Ecology – ANTH7018 (Ruth Mace, Andrea Migliano, Lucio Vincius)
- 2 h post-graduate seminar per week - Attendance of 2 undergraduate lectures per week of course BIOL2011 (Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology)
- Assessment (core): final exam, 3000-word essay
- Assessment (option): 3000-word essay
This component is about the evolution of behaviour in humans. It examines how much of the variation in behaviour can be understood in terms of maximizing reproductive success in different ecological and social circumstances. There is increasing recognition that Darwinian approaches can contribute to our understanding of human demography, health, psychology and culture, in hunter-gatherer, traditional and modern agricultural and post-industrial societies. The course will cover those aspects of our behaviour and life history that have parallels in numerous species, and also those that may be uniquely human (such as menopause and the demographic transition), including how cultural evolution has influenced our behaviour. The subjects covered in the weekly seminars will relate to those covered in the optional undergraduate lectures, but the first two thirds of the lecture course is about theory and its application to animals, with the last third being exclusively about humans, whereas the seminar will concentrate on humans exclusively throughout. Areas covered: theoretical approaches to the study of behavioural and evolutionary ecology (such as kin selection, the comparative method and optimality), social evolution (altruism, social living, life history theory, reproductive strategies).
Post-graduate methods/statistics – ANTHGS21 (Lucio Vinicius)
Assessment: compulsory, but not assessed
This course introduces statistics and the R language from their very basics. The course assumes no background knowledge of either statistics or statistical software. Topics covered in the first module (Term 1) include an introduction to statistics in R, distributions, hypothesis testing (t-tests, proportion tests, ANOVA), correlation, linear regression, multivariate statistics (multiple regression, PCA, discriminant analysis) and logistic regression. The second, more advanced module (Term 2) introduces survival analysis, Poisson regression, non-linear curve fitting, phylogenetic methods, mixed effects models, and multilevel analysis. It is expected that at the end of the two modules students will be familiar with the quantitative methods most frequently used in Anthropological research.
Optional Courses
Note: Not all options might be on offer during each session. A minimum number of 5 students are required for any one option to be run. In reality, this is almost always achieved, as students often originate from various programmes. Options 2.7 and 2.8 give priority to students from MSc programmes administered from within the Institute of Archaeology. There might be slight changes to lecturers and course requirements from year to year.
Anthropology
Advanced Human Evolution – ANTHGH02 (Matthew Skinner)
- 2 h post-graduate seminar per week (+ lab work of approx. 2 hours/week)
- Assessment: weekly assignments, 3000-word project report
This course is designed to introduce students to current research in the field of human evolution. The topics covered change each year to reflect current discoveries and/or the application of new lines of analysis. The emphasis is on critical assessment of the methodology employed in reaching conclusions about our evolutionary past. In addition to fully exploring recently discovered fossil material, examples of topics that would be expected to be covered might include (1) phylogenetic analysis from fossil material, (2) reconstruction of functional capabilities based on fossil and extant comparative material, (3) species recognition in the fossil record, (4) behavioural reconstruction from skeletal material, (5) palaeoenvironmental determination, and (6) application of dating techniques. By the end of this course, students would expect to have a good understanding of the current research in the field of human evolution.
Primate Evolution – ANTHGH17 (Christophe Soligo)
- 2 h post-graduate seminar per week plus lab-class
- Recommended attendance of 2 hours of undergraduate lectures per week (course ANTH3052 (Primate Evolution and Environments)
- Assessment: 3000-word essay
The course will cover topics relating to primate evolution from the origin of the order through to the modern day. Specific subjects for discussion will be chosen each year following latest developments in the field, but will tend to focus on central issues, in particular the environmental and chronological context of major clade diversifications, species diversity and adaptive innovations. After completion of the course, students should have a good understanding of key issues and current research in the field of primate evolution. They will have gained a good knowledge of extant and extinct primate diversity and will be in a position to critically assess and inform key topical debates relating to primate evolution, but also, more broadly, to apply their knowledge to current societal issues relating, for example, to species conservation or climate change.
Anthropological and Archaeological Genetics – ANTHGH07 (Andrea Migliano, Mark Thomas)
- A masters-only course
- Assessment: 3000-word essay
The development of molecular techniques for the analysis of DNA has proved to be rapid over the last 20 years and many of these new methods are now finding applications in the fields of Anthropology and Archaeology. These applications include the study of inherited diseases, determination of kinship patterns within and between populations, the reconstruction of past population movements and the study of infectious diseases in past populations. In addition, patterns of genetic variation have enabled researchers to address questions relating to the origins of modern humans and the relationship between humans and other primates. This course will cover the nature of genetic material, genetic variation, mutation, molecular methodologies (including ancient DNA techniques) and some of the demographic questions being tackled using molecular techniques.
Practical Ethnographic and Documentary Filmmaking – ANTHGS17/20/25
- Teaches technical skills needed to complete a 15-minute video project to broadcast standards using the cameras, workstations and facilities in the department's visual laboratory. Students will acquire practical, analytical and intellectual skills in using moving image and sound recording equipment and discover how new technologies create new methodologies
- Assessed on the student's final 15-minute video project, devised, shot and edited during the course (80%), and 20% on a Project Diary
- Note: This course entails a lab fee of ca. £1,000 on top of any fee for a Masters degree
This course offers practical training in the skills of observational ethnographic documentary digital video under the rubric that, "We live in a world of moving images and to communicate our ideas we need to be as fluent in the use of sound and imagery as in the printed or the spoken word". Filmmaking, that was once technically remote, is now universally accessible, even for a researcher with a mobile phone. The latest digital still cameras now shoot high-definition video and synchronous audio. Every researcher and fieldworker has the tools to hand. This course enables researchers to use them with skill and creativity to bring their academically informed genius to life with a vision that can reach out to a wider audience. Students will be trained in the technical and creative skills of video and digital technology to represent and document social and scientific research to broadcast standards under the guidance of an award-winning and experienced industry professional guiding them through both the practical skills, aesthetic and ethical approaches to visual representation.
Archaeology
Archaeology of Hunter-Gatherers from the Emergence of Modern Humans – ARCLG128 (Andrew Garrard)
- A masters-only course
- Assessment: 3000-word essay
A detailed examination of some of the key issues in human ecology and behavioural evolution from the emergence of “cognitively-modern” humans in the early Upper Pleistocene until the beginnings of food production in the Holocene. The course will review contemporary debates on issues such as: the emergence of biological and behavioural modernity in Africa, the adaptations of hunter-gatherers to the harsh environmental conditions of the last glacial in Europe, the analysis and interpretation of Upper Palaeolithic cave-art, the nature of hunter-gatherer societies immediately prior to the transition to agriculture in Europe and the Near East, the colonization of Australia and the Americas and human involvement in megafaunal extinctions.
Variation and Evolution of the Human Skull – ARCHLG144 (Simon Hillson)
- A masters-only course involving lectures and practicals.
- Assessment: essays and practical tests
A detailed introduction to the methodology used in the study of the skull in archaeology and physical anthropology, and the main current issues in research. It provides an anatomical background to the skull, as well as morphological variation, changes with age and development, and pathology, dealing specifically with the remains of Late Pleistocene and Holocene hominids, especially anatomically modern humans, but including Neanderthals. Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to (i) identify confidently all the bones of the skull in both adult and juvenile remains; (ii) label the main features and landmarks of the skull; (iii) understand variation in size and shape of the skull, and its interpretation in terms of sexual dimorphism, growth and modern human origins; (iv) take the most commonly used skull measurements and have a working knowledge of the main statistical methods used to interpret them; (v) understand development of the skull and its role in estimating age at death; (vi) recognise the most common types of pathological lesions and developmental anomalies in the skull and discuss the ways in which they may be interpreted. The course is taught through lectures and practicals.
Dental Anthropology – ARCHLG145 (Simon Hillson)
- A masters-only course involving lectures and practicals
- Assessment: essays and practical tests
A detailed introduction to the methodology used in the study of teeth in archaeology and physical anthropology. It provides an anatomical background to the dentition, as well as the histology of dental tissues, morphological variation, changes with age and development, and dental pathology, dealing specifically with the remains of Late Pleistocene and Holocene hominids, concentrating on anatomically modern humans, but including Neanderthals. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to (i) identify all the elements of human jaws and dentition; (ii) label the main features of each tooth; (iii) variation in size and shape of the dentition, and its interpretation in terms of sexual dimorphism, evolution, migration and growth; (iv) understand developmental processes in the formation of the jaws and teeth, the different types of wear and the way in which they progress with age; (v) identify the key microscopic features in the histology of enamel, dentine and cement, and understand the main ways in which they can be used for anthropological research; (vi) have a good working knowledge of the role of dentition in estimation of age; (vii) identify and record the most common types of dental pathological lesions and understand the way in which they may be interpreted.
Evolution of the Human Brain and Behaviour – ARCLG183 (James Steele)
- A masters-only course
- Assessment: 3000-word essay
This course will examine the evidence for the evolution of the uniquely human brain and style of cognition. Students will assess the evidence from a wide range of disciplines including not only archaeology and anthropology, but also cognitive neuroscience and neuroanatomy, comparative and developmental psychology, primatology and evolutionary biology, to investigate how and why human brains have adapted to their ecological and social environments to develop our distinctive forms of technology, language, social life and culture. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the strengths and limitations of the different forms of evidence available, and how they inform on the evolution of brains and cognition among primates, hominins and humans.
Archaeology of Early Human Origins – ARCLG271 (Matt Pope)
- A masters-only course
- Assessment: 3000-word essay, seminar presentation
The course will provide a detailed account of the Palaeolithic archaeological record associated with the evolution pre-modern humans in Africa and Eurasia. The course will cover the subject through exploration of the history of Palaeolithic archaeology, as well as the technological, taphonomic and theoretical frameworks necessary to a critical understanding of the archaeological record of human evolution.
Presentation of research proposal (end of term 2)
All students present a 15-min preliminary dissertation proposal in front of peers and members of staff, followed by a discussion.
Biological Anthropology Seminars
Attendance is compulsory for all post-graduate students. Tea, coffee and snacks are provided half an hour before the seminar starts. Afterwards, speaker, members of staff and many post-graduates go out for drinks and often also for dinner. This is an opportunity to meet staff and students informally.
Examples from previous lists of speakers:
- Daryl Shanley (University of Manchester): Evolution of menopause.
- Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa (Senshu University & University of Tokyo): Patterns of homicide in Japan from an evolutionary perspective.
- Ilona Blue (South Bank University): Urban health in developing countries.
- Robin Allaby (University of Manchester and UMIST): The domestication of wheat in the Near East: molecular evidence.
- Nyovani Madise (University of Southampton): Patterns of child mortality in Malawi.
- Mark Collard (Department of Anthropology, UCL): Cladistics and the reconstruction of early hominid phylogenies.
- Randy Sussman (SUNY Stony Brook): Who made the early Oldowan tools? Fossil evidence for tool behaviour in the Plio-Pleistocene hominids.
- Chris McManus (St Mary's Hospital, London): Evolutionary aspects of brain laterality: Why most people are right-handed.
- Andrea Migliano (UCL Department of Anthropology): Convergent Evolution of African, Asian and Melanesian pygmies
- Jeroen Smaers (UCL Department of Anthropology): Brains, behaviour, and how to link them across millions of years: the evolution of functionally specialized neural circuits in primates
- Andrew King (Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, University of London): Living on the edge: How social relationships define baboon success in the Namib Desert
- Lisa Debruine (University of Aberdeen School of Psychology): Evoked culture and mate preferences
- Dave Begun (University of California at Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology): Hominine origins in Europe: Encephalization and orthogrady
- Asifa Majid (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics): Celebrity and the Environment: Fame, Wealth and Power in Conservation
- Chris Sandbrook (Cambridge University Department of Geography): Power, politics and public-private partnerships: investigating a new approach to nature-based tourism in Uganda
- Rebecca Drury (Fauna & Flora International): Hungry for success: the social drivers of urban demand for wild animals in Vietnam
- Nichola Raihani (Zoological Society of London): Crime and punishment: insights from a non-human model system
Non-departmental seminar series
UCL and nearby academic institutions organise numerous seminar series which often host word-class speakers. Attendance is optional for graduate students, but it is expected and highly recommended that students use the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the latest developments in Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology. You can also, of course, attend one of the many seminar series organised by other sections of the department, given that we highly value multi-disciplinary approaches.
Project Dissertation (50% of marks)
The dissertation is based on independent research and thought. This may be achieved at an empirical level (by presenting source or case materials) or at a theoretical level (by exploring and synthesising previously published sources), or in a mixed manner. A good dissertation demonstrates awareness of similar research, situates itself critically in relation to what has come before and will also point to other areas of research.
The thesis supervisor will be chosen on the basis of topic and/or theoretical expertise, and is typically an instructor of a core course or option course. Other academics might act as supervisors during field or lab work phases, given that students will often collect dissertation data in research groups located outside UCL.
Topics of dissertations from previous years
(selected titles since 1996)
- The Neanderthal and Homo erectus pelvis in human evolution
- A quantitative analysis of gibbon behavioural ecology
- The evolution of the mammalian sex chromosome heteromorphism
- An evolutionary analysis of tool using behaviour: a computer simulation of the behaviours of complex life
- Primate lifespan, mortality risk and the disposable soma theory of senescence
- Playing safe: agonistic interactions and risk-management tactics of oestrous female rhesus macaques
- Hominid palaeodemography: the Neanderthals
- Human, ape and fossil hominid growth and development
- The significance of eye orbits in human evolution
- The significance of dental roots
- One foot in the past: an investigation into the degree of halux abduction of the OH 8 foot
- Tools, hands and interpretations: a pilot study analysing the hand grips utilised by chimpanzees, whilst manipulating tools
- Encephalisation and the origins of human food processing: food for thought
- Grandmothering in evolutionary perspective: a dynamic model of population growth
- A morphometric assessment of the Olduvai hominid 48 clavicle
- A craniometric study of fossil calvaria from the Sima de los Huesons, Atapuerca
- Calculating species numbers in extinct hominoidea
- The expensive tissue hypothesis: the relationship between basal metabolic rate and organ mass
- Primates and the bush meat crisisdoes exploitation necessarily mean extinction?
- Hominid dispersal modelling: the species interchangeability model how adoption of a more meat-based diet facilitated and accelerated hominid ranging out of Africa.
- Post-conflict behaviour of wild hanuman langurs
- Was the Levant a refuge for Neanderthals during climatic extremes in Europe?
- Social dynamics of bi-male mountain gorilla groups
- How many species at Pasalar? A study in molar morphology
- Infanticide by males in non-human primates: maternal and infant counterstrategies
- Duetting in gibbons: territorial defence or female advertising?
- Are there sex differences in the use of landmarks and spatial gradients by non-human primates to locate food?
- The deciduous dentition of Griphopithecus: morphometric analysis of a middle Miocene hominoid
- A comparison of non-human primate vocal repertoires
- Y chromosome genetic history of eastern Mediterranean and Transcaucasian populations; implications for the Neolithic population growth and the genetic affinities of Cypriot populations
- The Neanderthal mandibular configuration as a diagnostic taxonomic characteristic
- The muddle in the middle Pleistocene: can the development of the maxilla and canine fossa from birth to adulthood shed new light on the classification of juvenile Atapuerca specimen atd6-69 as the new species Homo antecessor?
- The genealogical relationship of y-chromosomes in the Sakya of Bangladesh, Nepal and northeast India
- The roles of phylogenesis and ethnogenesis in the development of Turkmen woven assemblages: a case study in the evolution of cultural diversification
- A reassessment of the odontametric variation of the Krapina dental assemblage using a cervical margin odontometric method of measurement: an evaluation of the method and statistics employed
- A comparative analysis of the proximal pedal phalanges of homo antecessor
- An evaluation of the use of phenetic and cladistic methods for analysing different data types
- Bipedal wading
- An analysis of variation in the tibia of great apes and humans: implications for STW 514a and STW 514b
- Phylogenetic analysis of hominoid behavioural evolution
- Hominid body mass estimation: a comparison of predictors and methods
- Maternal nutrition and sex ratio biases in Ethiopia
- Game-theoretic modelling of paternity certainty and male provisioning strategies: a theoretical model and its application to hominid reproductive energetics
- Taxonomic utility of the fossil hominid basicranium and palate: a comparative 3d morphometric analysis
- Mechanisms and functions of homosexual behaviour: a case study of wild hanuman langur monkeys
- Homo ergaster: female philopatry or dispersal?
- Phylogeny and biogeography of south east Asian primates
- Sexual dimorphism in the primate innominate bone
- A study of timing of crown formation in molar teeth
- The development of species-typical communicative behaviors in chimpanzees
- The history of tuberculosis in human populations: inferences from the Nrampi gene
- The measurement of urinary LH levels using LH detection kits and radioimmunoassays
- Testing the grandmothering hypothesis: the provisioning of homo erectus infants and juveniles.
- A study of intra-inter specific variation and sexual dimorphism in the occipital bone and palate of great apes and humans: a geometric morphometric approach
- Human mating strategies and their relationship with sexually determined personality traits
- The phylogenetic and functional significance of Orrorin tugensis, assessed through quantitative analyses of hominoid femoral morphology
- Seasonal variation in availability and consumption of army ants by Nigerian chimpanzees
- The effect of diet and mandibular gape upon the functional morphology of the catarrhini temporomandibular joint: an approach using geometric morphometrics
- Masturbation in male primates: taxonomic distribution, proximate causes and potential evolutionary functions
- Masturbation in female primates: taxonomic distribution, proximate causes and potential evolutionary functions
- Reproductive endocrinology in males in relation to Bangladeshi migration
- An analysis of enamel hypolasias and other dental conditions in an early bronze age 1a population from Bab Edh-dhra, southern Jordan
- Counting the cost: investigating the relationship between expensive infant care and complex mating systems in neotropical primates
- Sex, somatype and socioecology: the impact of westernization on body-shape preferences
- Human genetic adaptation to high elevation-the potential role of genetic polymorphisms in Ethiopian populations
- Mechanisms and functions of ovulatory desynchronisation in hanuman langur monkeys
- Sexual swelling colour change: the evolution of full colour vision in primates and the accurate analysis of colour
- An investigation into evolutionary explanations of the type ii diabetes epidemic: the role of physical activity levels
- Bioacoustical analysis of free-ranging slender loris whistles: their role in loris communication and some factors influencing their production
- Ecomorphological analysis of extant bovid forelimbs and its applications to fossil bovids from 3 ma Makapansgat, South Africa
- Activity and association pattern of wild olive baboons at Gashaka / Nigeria: spatial-temporal variation in relation to resource availability
- Reconstructing the past: an ecological diversity analysis of Olduvai bed II above and below the lemuta member
- Measuring variation in pattern and degree of craniofacial sexual dimorphism between different modern human populations
- Heritability of life history and morphological traits in mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx)
- An evolutionary perspective on intelligence, fertility and unplanned childbirths: a test of predictions in a British cohort with regards to Kanazawa's "possible solution to the central theoretical problem of human sociobiology" (2005)
- An evolution of altruistic punishment: do altruistic punishers receive a good reputation, and is this individually beneficial?
- Investigating patterns of female ovarian cyclicity in semifree-ranging mandrills
- Patterns of cranial dimorphism and extended growth in extant hominoid primates: implications for social and reproductive behaviour
- A geometric morphometric study into the ontogeny of the subadult gorilla and chimpanzee scapula with relation to locomotion
- Socio-economic status and testosterone: the trade-off between current and future reproduction in British male
- Male choice: potential male preferences for female external genital morphology
- Are both food aversions and an increased level of ethnocentrism in the first trimester of pregnancy evolutionary adaptations to protect the developing foetus and its mother?
- The effects of east African lake periods and the broader environmental context on human evolution
- Climate-related variation of the human nasal cavity
- An investigation into factors influencing acceptance of the relevance of evolutionary theory applied to human behaviour
- Costly signalling in religious groups: the American congregational giving study (1993)
- Facedate: an investigation into the mate choices made on a collection of facial photographs
- An evolutionary perspective on tactics and preferences in human mate selection: evidence from lonely hearts advertisements
- Fear for your life: an empirical study of evolutionary hypotheses of ocd and anxiety in relation to risk-avoidance and accident proneness
- Ethnocentricity in pregnancy
- Male parental investment and pair bond stability: an empirical test of marriage as a reproductive contract
- Activity budgets of wild troops of white-faced capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica: the influence of age and sex, ecology and human presence
- Handpicked for performance: hand preference in wild olive baboons
- Altruism in London: deprivation as an indicator
- Comparative positional behaviour in three captive callitrichid species: Leontopithecus chrysomelas, Saguinis imperator and Cebuella pygmaea
- Difference and effects of migration on mate height preference using Japanese and white Caucasian populations
- Differential grandparental investment based on two nationalities (British and Bulgarian), gender and birth order
- Growing pains: an investigation into the development of olive baboon infants
- Kin residency, sexual conflict and lateral pressures on fertility desires, behaviours and outcomes in Tanzania
- Hominoid phylogeny: a test using geometric morphometrics
