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posted by janrinok on Thursday March 22 2018, @08:13AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-much-has-changed dept.

Triceratops may have had horns to attract mates

Dinosaurs like the Triceratops may have had horns and frills to attract a mate, a new study suggests.

Ceratopsian, or horned dinosaurs, were previously thought to have developed this ornamentation to distinguish between different species.

This has now been ruled out in a study published in a Royal Society journal.

Instead, the aggressive-looking armour may actually have evolved to signal an animal's suitability as a partner, known as socio-sexual selection.

"Individuals are advertising their quality or genetic make-up," explained Andrew Knapp, lead author of the research reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"We see that in peacocks too, with their tail feathers."

Also at Science Magazine.

Patterns of divergence in the morphology of ceratopsian dinosaurs: sympatry is not a driver of ornament evolution (open, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0312) (DX)


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Friday March 23 2018, @04:36AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Friday March 23 2018, @04:36AM (#657020) Journal

    Explains jmorris, who is still "available", if you know what I mean. And the khallow, who has been doing the whole horn display thing for quite some time in Yellowstone, but so far has only attracted cow elk and some Bighorn ewes in estrus. And some Mountain goats, but they tend to hang in Glacier, more than Yellowstone, and not so much in the data centre of either. That leaves the mid-western human heifer, whose tender mercies might be attracted to our lonely khallow, if he would just lose the horns, and go for khakis and a nice button down shirt. And, shave. The goatee is not a substitute for dinosaur frills, no matter how much you might think so.

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