pachycephalosaurs

[frank bliss <frank@blissnet.com>]

Ok, so several of you have convinced me that heat transfer away from 
the brain is not an effective solution to the question of why a pachy 
has such a thick bony head.  The discussion goes that a thick bony 
skull will keep heat in.  Perhaps just as a thought, (and to play 
devil's advocate)  keeping heat in was the purpose of the thick skull.  
Does anyone know if a cold brain (however small it is) is an efficient 
brain.  Would there be an advantage to being able to warm the brain by 
opening up blood supply selectively?  I am not up on brain metabolism 
and heat regulation.
Apparently, same species head butting with all the associated spines is 
not probable because of the affiliated damage that would be done both 
to the spines and the skull.  I have heard arguments that flank butting 
is a possibility.  It would have been a bloody sport with all those 
spines hanging out along the base of the dome.  It reminds me of a 
knights mace ball with spikes on it.  This trait would lend itself 
nicely for defense as well though it doesn't seem that the spikes were 
long enough to do anything but superficial damage.  It would seem that 
such a weapon would tend to discourage an attack by any but the most 
determined predators. Since this damage occurred before the invention 
of antibiotics, it might lead to the eventual death of the attacker by 
infection.  Animals tend to know who not to mess with ex. the coral 
snake or poison arrow frog. The big shiny dome (like my bald head?) 
might have been colored brightly to warn away likely attackers.  It may 
have been an effective bluff mechanism.   If it worked, it would have 
stuck around over the generations.

Your thoughts?

Frank Bliss