horns — had elaborate and varied neck frills.

Paleontologists have debated what

they were used for: Defense? Temperature regulation? Or perhaps, like modern

birds with colorful tail feathers, the dinosaurs evolved the frills to show off their

fitness to potential mates and competitors, a process of sexual selection. In sexual

selection, an animal with a certain trait that appeals to potential mates or otherwise

allows them to reproduce more will get passed down to the next generation and

become more common. 

It's hard to prove sexual selection directly, because it's impossible to know if a

dinosaur with a bigger, brighter frill actually had more success with mating and

producing offspring. But researchers at The Natural History Museum London and

Queen Mary University London turned to clues about the growth and variation of the

frills to see if they matched the patterns of sexually selected traits in animals seen

today. 

ourney back to the age of dinosaurs with Live Science and uncover the secrets of some of

the prehistoric world’s most remarkable beasts. From the Tyrannosaurus rex and Diplodocus

to the Triceratops and Coelophysis, get up close and discover how these fascinating

creatures lived, hunted, evolved and ultimately died out. Why did Stegosaurus travel in

herds? Is it possible to clone a dinosaur? Find the answers to these questions and many

more.
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Tiny dinos with fancy neck frills were big showoffs

By Stephanie Pappas - Live Science Contributor 12 days ago

Frills probably helped dinosaurs establish dominance or find mates.

The neck frills of Protoceratops dinosaurs like the one in this illustration were likely a form of sexual

selection.

An artist's rendition of a Protoceratops with a colorful neck frill.

(Image: © CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Adorable sheep-sized dinosaurs probably evolved their fancy neck frills to attract mates or show off

their dominance.

Protoceratops — a dinosaur that looked a bit like a mini-Triceratops without horns — had elaborate

and varied neck frills. Paleontologists have debated what they were used for: Defense? Temperature

regulation? Or perhaps, like modern birds with colorful tail feathers, the dinosaurs evolved the frills

to show off their fitness to potential mates and competitors, a process of sexual selection. In sexual

selection, an animal with a certain trait that appeals to potential mates or otherwise allows them to

reproduce more will get passed down to the next generation and become more common.

It's hard to prove sexual selection directly, because it's impossible to know if a dinosaur with a

bigger, brighter frill actually had more success with mating and producing offspring. But researchers

at The Natural History Museum London and Queen Mary University London turned to clues about

the growth and variation of the frills to see if they matched the patterns of sexually selected traits in

animals seen today.

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Journey back to the age of dinosaurs with Live Science and uncover the secrets of some of the

prehistoric world’s most remarkable beasts. From the Tyrannosaurus rex and Diplodocus to the

Triceratops and Coelophysis, get up close and discover how these fascinating creatures lived,

hunted, evolved and ultimately died out. Why did Stegosaurus travel in herds? Is it possible to clone

a dinosaur? Find the answers to these questions and many more.VIEW DEAL

Related: The 10 coolest dinosaur findings of 2020

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The researchers stitched together dozens to hundreds of photographs of 65 skulls from

Protoceratops species, using software to create 3D models of the skulls. Of these, 30 were complete

digital reconstructions. The skulls came from dinosaurs ranging from a day old to full adulthood, so

the scientists could compare growth rates of the frills with that of other parts of the skull.