triceratops

Triceratops horns likely evolved for mate competition, display, and species recognition, with combat as a secondary use. This guide explains the fossil evidence behind ceratopsian horns.

Ceratopsians — the horned and frilled dinosaurs — are among the most distinctive animals in the fossil record, and among the most misunderstood. Triceratops's frill was not armor. Its horns may have been used for display as much as combat. Torosaurus may or may not be a different animal from Triceratops — the debate is genuinely unresolved. And ceratopsian herds, though often depicted as vast migratory columns, are supported by specific but limited fossil evidence. Here is what the bones actually show.