RE: Ceratopsian Frills

["Richard W. Travsky" <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004, Andrew A. Farke wrote:
> > From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu] On Behalf Of
> > Richard W. Travsky
> 
> <snip>
> > It occurs to me that a ceratopsian frill employed actively could also be
> > effective. Given the weight of a frill and the strong neck muscles needed
> > to hold and move the head around, a sudden jerk back could deliver
> > considerable force against a predator going for the neck.
> 
> Hmm. . .an interesting thought. Very possible in Triceratops, which has a

Not to mention styracosaurus, which has frill spikes similar to those
horned lizards.

> nice heavy frill. This might be a little dicier in animals such as
> Torosaurus, which have a very thin frill. Maybe I'll have to do some frill
> strength calculations among everything else these days!

Thin and "porous". That frill practically goes back to its butt. It looks
like it wouldn't be strong enough to hold up as a barrier either.