Song complexity in suboscine birds: evolutionary drivers and ecological constraints
Jingyi Yang, Chiti Arvind, Robert A. Barber, Oscar Johnson, Katie O’Brien, Richard Stanley, Gustavo A. Bravo, Evan J. Buck, Santiago Claramunt, Robb Thomas Brumfield, Michael G. Harvey, Elizabeth P. Derryberry, Joseph A. Tobias
This study uses Bayesian phylogenetic models to analyze song complexity in suboscine birds, finding that sexual selection reduces complexity while territoriality increases it, challenging the dominance of sexual selection as the primary driver.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · May 20, 2026Peer-reviewedEvolutionary Biology