Dissertation topics

Your dissertation is based on independent research and thought and should aim to be suitable for publication in a scholarly journal.

Dissertation topics from previous years

Evolutionary Theory

An evaluation of the use of phenetic and cladistic methods for analysing different data types
An evolutionary analysis of tool using behaviour: a computer simulation of the behaviours of complex life
An investigation into factors influencing acceptance of the relevance of evolutionary theory applied to human behaviour
Calculating species numbers in extinct Hominoidea
Phylogenetic analysis of hominoid behavioural evolution
The evolution of the mammalian sex chromosome heteromorphism
The expensive tissue hypothesis: the relationship between basal metabolic rate and organ mass
A new method for exploring past migratory activity using biological or cultural variation data dispersed in space and time

Primatology

A comparison of non-human primate vocal repertoires
A quantitative analysis of gibbon behavioural ecology
Activity and association pattern of wild olive baboons at Gashaka, Nigeria: spatial-temporal variation in relation to resource availability
Activity budgets of wild troops of white-faced capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica: the influence of age and sex, ecology and human presence
Are there sex differences in the use of landmarks and spatial gradients by non-human primates to locate food?
Bioacoustical analysis of free-ranging slender loris whistles: function and factors influencing their production
Counting the cost: investigating the relationship between expensive infant care and complex mating systems in neotropical primates
Duetting in gibbons: territorial defence or female advertising?
Growing pains: an investigation into the development of olive baboon infants
Handpicked for performance: hand preference in wild olive baboons
Heritability of life history and morphological traits in mandrills
Infanticide by males in non-human primates: maternal and infant counterstrategies
Phylogeny and biogeography of south east Asian primates
Playing safe: agonistic interactions and risk-management tactics of oestrous female rhesus macaques
Post-conflict behaviour of wild Hanuman langurs
Primate lifespan, mortality risk and the disposable soma theory of senescence
Primates and the bush meat crisis: does exploitation necessarily mean extinction?
Seasonal variation in availability and consumption of army ants by Nigerian chimpanzees
Social dynamics of bi-male mountain gorilla groups
The development of species-typical communicative behaviours in chimpanzees
Food begging and transfer in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus): assessing relationship quality?
Sleeping site selection of olive baboons in Gashaka Gumti National Park, Nigeria
The effect of reproductive state on the sociality of female olive baboons: evidence from a field study in Nigeria
How gregarious are female chimpanzees? Camera-trap aided measurements across four subspecies.
Female foraging strategies in Bornean orangutans

Comparative Functional Anatomy

A geometric morphometric study into the ontogeny of the subadult gorilla and chimpanzee scapula with relation to locomotion
Intra-inter specific variation and sexual dimorphism in the occipital bone and palate of great apes and humans: a geometric morphometric approach
Timing of crown formation in molar teeth
An analysis of variation in the tibia of great apes and humans: implications for STW 514a and STW 514b
Bipedal wading
Climate-related variation of the human nasal cavity
Comparative positional behaviour in three captive callitrichid species: Leontopithecus chrysomelas, Saguinus imperator and Cebuella pygmaea
Encephalisation and the origins of human food processing: food for thought
Hominid body mass estimation: a comparison of predictors and methods
Human, ape and fossil hominid growth and development
Patterns of cranial dimorphism and extended growth in extant hominoid primates: implications for social and reproductive behaviour
Sexual dimorphism in the primate innominate bone
Taxonomic utility of the fossil hominid basicranium and palate: a comparative 3d morphometric analysis
The effect of diet and mandibular gape upon the functional morphology of the Catarrhini temporomandibular joint: an approach using geometric morphometrics
The significance of dental roots
The significance of eye orbits in human evolution
Tools, hands and interpretations: Analysing the hand grips of chimpanzees
Does internal bone structure of the humerus reflect locomotor behaviour in extant apes and fossil hominins?
Effects of infant carry and play positions on achievement of developmental milestones
Getting a grip on the past: trabecular structure in the fifth metacarpal head of extant and fossil hominoids
Hand proportions and body mass in primates
Inter-specific scaling of articular surface areas in the primate calcaneus
One of these sides is not like the other: dental fluctuating asymmetry in four genera of apes
Scaling of navicular articular facet size and shape with body mass and intermembral index (IMI) in 51 primate species
The functional morphology of the forelimb of Perodicticus potto and Lagothrix lagotricha
The root of the matter: dental development in South African hominins, revisited

Palaeoanthropology and Human Evolution

Evolutionary rates in hominin posterior teeth
Heritability of chimpanzee and human subcortical anatomy
A craniometric study of fossil calvaria from the Sima de los Huesos, Atapuerca
A morphometric assessment of the Olduvai hominid 48 clavicle
Hominid palaeodemography: the Neanderthals
The deciduous dentition of Griphopithecus: morphometric analysis of a middle Miocene hominoid
A comparative analysis of the proximal pedal phalanges of Homo antecessor
A reassessment of the odontometric variation of the Krapina dental assemblage using a cervical margin odontometric method of measurement: an evaluation of the method and statistics employed
An analysis of enamel hypoplasias and other dental conditions in an early bronze age 1a population from Bab Edh-dhra, southern Jordan
Ecomorphological analysis of extant bovid forelimbs and its applications to fossil bovids from 3 ma Makapansgat, South Africa
Hominoid phylogeny: a test using geometric morphometrics
Homo ergaster: female philopatry or dispersal?
How adoption of a more meat-based diet facilitated and accelerated hominid ranging out of Africa
How many species at Pasalar? A study in molar morphology
Measuring variation in pattern and degree of craniofacial sexual dimorphism between different modern human populations
One foot in the past: the degree of halux abduction of the OH 8 foot
Reconstructing the past: an ecological diversity analysis of Olduvai bed II above and below the Lemuta Member
The effects of East African lake periods and the broader environmental context on human evolution
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 Neanderthal and Homo erectus pelvis in human evolution
The Neanderthal mandibular configuration as a diagnostic taxonomic characteristic
Was the Levant a refuge for Neanderthals during climatic extremes in Europe?
Hominin evolution in phylogenetic context
The morphology of the enamel-dentine junction in Neanderthal molars
The phylogenetic and functional significance of Orrorin tugenensis, assessed through quantitative analyses of hominoid femoral morphology

Mate Choice, Sex and Reproduction

An evolutionary perspective on tactics and preferences in human mate selection: evidence from lonely hearts advertisements
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?
Difference and effects of migration on mate height preference using Japanese and white Caucasian populations
Ethnocentricity in pregnancy
Facedate: an investigation into the mate choices made on a collection of facial photographs
Human mating strategies and their relationship with sexually determined personality traits
Investigating patterns of female ovarian cyclicity in semifree-ranging mandrills
Male choice: potential male preferences for female external genital morphology
Male parental investment and pair bond stability: an empirical test of marriage as a reproductive contract
Masturbation in female primates: taxonomic distribution, proximate causes and potential evolutionary functions
Masturbation in male primates: taxonomic distribution, proximate causes and potential evolutionary functions
Mechanisms and functions of homosexual behaviour: a case study of wild Hanuman langur monkeys
Mechanisms and functions of ovulatory desynchronisation in Hanuman langur monkeys
Reproductive endocrinology in males in relation to Bangladeshi migration
Sexual swelling colour change: the evolution of full colour vision in primates and the accurate analysis of colour
Sex, somatype and socioecology: the impact of westernization on body-shape preferences
Socio-economic status and testosterone: the trade-off between current and future reproduction in British male
The measurement of urinary LH levels using LH detection kits and radioimmunoassays
Evolutionary roots of gender differences in risk-seeking behaviour
Inferring ancestral marriage and mating strategies in Indo-European societies
The evolution of human mate choice: shifting gender ideologies and the impact of the demographic transition on mate choice preferences
Tracing the evolution of human homosexuality: evidence for the kin selection hypothesis

Human Behavioural Ecology

An evolution of altruistic punishment: do altruistic punishers receive a good reputation, and is this individually beneficial?
An evolutionary perspective on intelligence, fertility and unplanned childbirths: a test of predictions in a British cohort
Costly signalling in religious groups: the American congregational giving study
Differential grandparental investment based on two nationalities (British and Bulgarian), gender and birth order
Game-theoretic modelling of paternity certainty and male provisioning strategies: a theoretical model and its application to hominid reproductive energetics
Grandmothering in evolutionary perspective: a dynamic model of population growth
Testing the grandmothering hypothesis: the provisioning of Homo erectus infants and juveniles.
The roles of phylogenesis and ethnogenesis in the development of Turkmen woven assemblages: a case study in the evolution of cultural diversification
Cooperation under conflict: an example involving neighbourhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Gift-giving in Mbendjele hunter-gatherers: an investigation into the adaptive origins of cooperation
Gossip games: The co-evolution of cooperation and communication
Kinship in Sino-Tibetan language family: a comparative phylogenetic approach
Sharing is not caring: an agent-based model of selfish food distribution and consumption patterns
Warfare in human evolution: an ethnographic approach

Applied Evolutionary Anthropology

Social desirability bias: The effect of interface design on the discourse of health-related information
The evolutionary salesman: submissive behaviour enhances compliance in persuasive communication
Kin residency, sexual conflict and lateral pressures on fertility desires, behaviours and outcomes in Tanzania
Altruism in London: deprivation as an indicator

Evolutionary Medicine

The evolution of short stature and life history in the extinct Barrinean pygmies
Maternal nutrition and sex ratio biases in Ethiopia
Fear for your life: an empirical study of evolutionary hypotheses of OCD and anxiety in relation to risk-avoidance and accident proneness
An investigation into evolutionary explanations of the type ii diabetes epidemic: the role of physical activity levels

Genetics

Human genetic adaptation to high elevation-the potential role of genetic polymorphisms in Ethiopian populations
The genealogical relationship of y-chromosomes in the Sakya of Bangladesh, Nepal and northeast India
The history of tuberculosis in human populations: inferences from the Nrampi gene
Y chromosome genetic history of eastern Mediterranean and Transcaucasian populations; implications for the Neolithic population growth and the genetic affinities of Cypriot populations