Data from: Synergistic selection regimens drive the evolution of display complexity in birds of paradise

1. Integrated visual displays that combine gesture with color are nearly
ubiquitous in the animal world, where they evolve in response to sexual
selection for their role in courtship and competition. However, few
studies examine how multiple selection regimens shape each component of
these complex phenotypes on a macroevolutionary scale. 2. Here we study
this issue by assessing how both sexual and ecological selection work
together to influence visual display complexity in the birds of paradise.
3. We first find that sexual dichromatism is highest in lekking species,
which undergo more intense sexual selection by female choice than
non-lekking species. Meanwhile, species in which males directly compete
with one another at communal display courts have more carotenoid-based
ornaments and fewer melanin ornaments. 4. Meanwhile, display habitat
influences gestural complexity. Species that dance in the cluttered
understory have more complex dances than canopy-displaying species. 5.
Taken together, our results illustrate how distinct selection regimens
each operate on individual elements comprising a complex display. This
supports a modular model of display evolution, wherein the ultimate
integrated display is the product of synergy between multiple factors that
select for different types of phenotypic complexity.