Horned Dinosaurs vs Theropods, did Horns Matter

[Troodon]

Did horned dinosaurs, ceratopsians, use their horns in a defensive posture or did it matter at all and were really intended for other behavioral needs.

Mark Witton tries to address this question, in his blog, with a new look using the behavior of modern animals.

 

http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2023/02/horned-dinosaurs-vs-theropods-how-much.html

 

[BobWill]

I went to a presentation Jack Horner gave at the Sam Noble Museum in Oklahoma a few years ago. The main point of the lecture was that ceratopsians used their horns and frills primarily for sexual display. One thing he brought up was how relatively fragile the ornaments were at maturity. I heard from someone else that this wasn't the case but don't really have a way if knowing personally. Horner compared them to birds performing mating rituals and asked us to imagine them doing a dance to attract a mate, up on their hind legs! His proof they could stand on their hind legs? Baby ceratopsians!

[Troodon]

9 hours ago, BobWill said:

I went to a presentation Jack Horner gave at the Sam Noble Museum in Oklahoma a few years ago. The main point of the lecture was that ceratopsians used their horns and frills primarily for sexual display. One thing he brought up was how relatively fragile the ornaments were at maturity. I heard from someone else that this wasn't the case but don't really have a way if knowing personally. Horner compared them to birds performing mating rituals and asked us to imagine them doing a dance to attract a mate, up on their hind legs! His proof they could stand on their hind legs? Baby ceratopsians!

Horners views on Ceratopsians do vary with other Ceratopsian focused paleontologists but I would agree the horns although used for defense were not it's primary purpose.   Similarly the very recent paper which showed that ankylosaur clubs were used on each other.   So they may have had a behavioral purpose other than strictly defense.