Evolutionary Anthropology

Evolutionary anthropology studies the biological origins and diversity of human beings, placing our species in the broader context of primate evolution and examining the processes, genetic, ecological, behavioural, and cultural, that have shaped who we are. It brings together evolutionary biology, primatology, palaeoanthropology, and comparative psychology to address fundamental questions about what it means to be human: where we came from, how our bodies and brains evolved, what makes us like and unlike our closest relatives, and how evolution continues to influence behaviour and health today.

The University of Liverpool's three-year full-time degree in evolutionary anthropology includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution in another country. This international component broadens your academic perspective and is particularly meaningful for a discipline that is inherently comparative and global in outlook. You will study human and primate evolution, population genetics, behavioural ecology, cognitive evolution, fossil hominins, evolutionary medicine, and the relationship between biology and culture.

Liverpool's research environment in evolutionary and biological anthropology enriches the programme with current scientific questions, and you will engage with primary literature and develop skills in quantitative analysis and scientific reasoning alongside the ability to communicate evolutionary ideas clearly.

Graduates in evolutionary anthropology go on to work in research, science communication, education, conservation, public health, and policy roles concerned with human biology and wellbeing. The scientific and analytical skills the degree develops are valued in a range of contexts, and many graduates continue to postgraduate study in evolutionary biology, anthropology, primate conservation, or the health sciences. The discipline's uniquely broad perspective on human nature provides a genuinely distinctive intellectual foundation.