Dr Kit Opie
BA, MSc, DPhil
Expertise
Current positions
Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology
Contact
Press and media
Many of our academics speak to the media as experts in their field of research. If you are a journalist, please contact the University’s Media and PR Team:
Research interests
My research interests are in the evolution of social systems in humans and other primates. I am a specialist in the use of leading-edge Bayesian phylogenetic methods from evolutionary biology to investigate global patterns and the drivers of large-scale social change. This includes the causes of the emergence of sociality, monogamy and other mating systems in primates and the origin of large-scale complex societies and inequality in humans. I use the findings of my research to inform debates and increase understanding about the underlying drivers of change in society today.
Publications
Selected publications
02/06/2023Adaptations to a cold climate promoted social evolution in Asian colobine primates
Science
Monogamy and infanticide in complex societies
Dunbar's Number
Male infanticide leads to social monogamy in primates
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Phylogenetic reconstruction of Bantu kinship challenges Main Sequence Theory of human social evolution
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Recent publications
17/03/2025Evolution of sexual dimorphism in nonhuman primates
Science China Life Sciences
Adaptations to a cold climate promoted social evolution in Asian colobine primates
Science
Intergroup violence in the Pan-Homo last common ancestor was limited by low male relatedness
Intergroup violence in the Pan-Homo last common ancestor was limited by low male relatedness
The origin of the state: grain, tax and writing
The origin of the state: grain, tax and writing
CHIELD
Journal of Language Evolution
