Manakins' dazzling dances may owe their origins to an ancient diet shift

Few animals put on a show quite like manakins.

In the rainforests of Central and South America, males of these small tropical birds, with strikingly bright plumage, often gather at communal display sites (leks), where they clear their own dance courts and spend much of their lives performing high-speed backflips, snapping their wings like firecrackers, and running through choreographed routines with other males, all to attract a mate. ...