Club-winged Manakin

The club-winged manakin produces a violin-like tone by vibrating specially modified wing feathers against hollow, resonant wing bones. This is the only known vertebrate to use skeletal stridulation for sound production. The wings beat at 107 times per second - twice hummingbird speed - creating their unique courtship song. This sound production required evolving solid wing bones to become hollow and resonant.

This demonstrates extreme costly modification for signaling. The hollow bones compromise flight efficiency - a significant survival cost. The bird evolved worse wings to make better sounds. Sexual selection drove modifications that degrade the wing's primary function. The tradeoff illustrates selection's power to override functional optimization.

The business parallel applies to deliberate capability sacrifice for differentiation. Companies sometimes degrade functional performance to enhance distinctive features. Fashion brands sacrifice durability for aesthetics. Tech products trade battery life for thinness. Like hollow manakin bones, these tradeoffs accept functional costs for signaling differentiation.

Club-winged manakins also demonstrate the evolution of sound as display medium. When visual signals face competition or obstruction, sound offers alternative channels. Their unique sound cuts through forest noise. Businesses in crowded visual environments similarly might differentiate through sonic branding - distinctive sounds becoming identity markers.