BioSample

The lance-tailed manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata) is a lekking suboscine Passerine bird studied for understanding sexual selection and the evolution of cooperation. Males of this species form long-term cooperative alliances and display together to attract females, but only the dominant alpha member of each pair usually mates. Subordinate beta males participate closely in displays, but benefit through increased chances of becoming an alpha in future years. Males compete for alpha positions, and after male status is established, females make mate choices by flying among dispersed alpha display territories. Displays are acrobatic and complex. Their song repertoire is diverse for a suboscine and includes male-male duets by alpha-beta partners. Adults can live up to 18 years. Females raise chicks outside of mates display areas and without male assistance, and tracking via video and telemetry has been used to recreate the process of mate choice and test hypotheses about how and why females choose the mates they do. Archived samples from one population monitored for 20+ years are available for questions requiring known relationships among individuals, and longitudinal data on individual genetic reproductive success. This sample of an adult female from Isla Boca Brava, Republic of Panama, was collected by Emily DuVal following an incidental netting death. The specimen was preserved for detailed genome sequencing as part of the G10K-VGP Project and in affiliation with the NSF RCN#1457541. The associated museum specimen and additional tissue are archived at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley.