Manakins' dazzling dances may have begun with a shift to fruit
A new genomic study suggests that the spectacular courtship displays of Manakins were preceded by ancient changes in diet, taste and digestion.
Few birds make courtship look as theatrical as Manakins. Across the Neotropics, males of this family perform some of the most elaborate displays known in birds - including rapid jumps, wing-snaps, backwards flips, coordinated routines and flashes of vivid colour. These performances have long been understood as products of sexual selection, but a new study suggests their deeper origins may lie in a much older ecological change: a shift towards eating fruit.
The research, published in Current Biology, examined the genomes, physiology and evolutionary history of Manakins and their relatives. The authors set out to investigate how a lineage of small forest birds became not only highly specialised fruit-eaters, but also one of the most striking examples of lekking behaviour, in which males gather at display sites and females choose mates after watching their performances.
The results suggest that intensified frugivory came first. Before the most acrobatic displays and most colourful male plumage evolved, ancestors of Manakins appear to have undergone important changes that helped them exploit fruit-rich diets. These included genetic and functional changes linked to taste, digestion and the handling of fruit chemistry.
One key finding concerns sweet taste. Birds do not have the same classic sweet-taste receptor system found in mammals, and several bird groups have independently repurposed other taste receptors to detect sugars. In Manakins, the study found that the T1R1-T1R3 receptor pair had evolved sugar-sensing ability by the base of the Manakin radiation. This means that early Manakins were likely better able to detect sugars in fruit than their more distant ancestors.
The researchers also found changes in lactase-phlorizin hydrolase, a digestive enzyme best known in mammals for its role in breaking down lactose, but which can also act on plant glycosides. In Manakins, the activity of this enzyme appears to have been reduced. The authors suggest this could have helped fruit-eating birds deal with chemically defended fruits by reducing the activation of some potentially harmful compounds as food passed through the gut.
Alongside these diet-related changes, the study found genomic signals linked to traits that would later become central to Manakin courtship. Genes associated with muscle function, visual perception and sensory processing showed signs of selection. This fits with what is already known about Manakins, whose displays can involve exceptionally fast wing movements, modified feathers or bones, and close visual assessment by females.
The study also found a genomic pattern consistent with strong sexual selection. In the Manakin species examined, genetic diversity on the Z chromosome was reduced relative to autosomes. In birds, this is a predicted signature of high variance in male reproductive success - the kind of skew expected in lekking systems where a small number of males may gain most matings.
By comparing diet, breeding systems and plumage across the wider suboscine bird radiation, the researchers found that fruit-eating was associated with changes in social systems and sexual dimorphism. In Manakins, the inferred sequence was striking: first came a move towards greater fruit consumption and digestive adaptation, then changes in mating systems, and only later the elaboration of complex male displays and colourful plumage.
The findings do not suggest that fruit alone created Manakins’ dances. Instead, they point to fruit-eating as a possible foundation that made other evolutionary changes more likely. Reliable, energy-rich fruit may have helped females raise young without male assistance, allowing males to invest more heavily in courtship competition. At the same time, sugar-rich diets may have helped support the energetic demands of repeated display behaviour.
June 2026
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